Baby, baby, baby
by Yanghuntlove
Summary: Directly after the season 7 finale- Cristina and Owen have to find a way back into their marriage and what is happening with their baby.
1. Chapter 1

The appointment

She checked her phone. No calls, no messages. She didn't know if she was upset that he hadn't called today or relieved. What did she want from him?

It had been a week since he had told her to leave their firehouse. She had moved from the sofa at Meredith's up into Alex's old room and back down to the sofa. Cristina felt out of place. All of a sudden Meredith had become a mother, Lexie and Jackson were happy, keppner was chief resident and Alex was gone. The house she had once run to for comfort felt like it was closing in on her. She didn't want to explain to the others why she was there, so she avoided them at the house and the hospital. she had avoided the ER and her husband's service all week. But it was only a matter of time before their paths would cross professionally.

One thing she could not avoid was the elephant I'm the room-Zola. She cried, laughed, played and to see it hurt Cristina more than she could admit. It hurt her to see the life she and Owen could have but she was too afraid to contemplate.

She longed to go home- back to the warmth of her husband and the safety he created for her. But how? How did she get back there? She wanted to explain but she couldn't find the words and even if she could would he want to hear them?

Pushing these thoughts to the back of her mind, she got dressed and made her way to the hospital for her appointment.

Owen sat on their bed, in the house she had bought for him. He turned his phone over in his hands. He wanted to hear her voice, he wanted to beg her not to do this, wanted to drive to meredith's and bring his wife home. But he couldn't. If he spoke to her, he would remember how her voice had comforted him when he had a panic attack. If he saw her he would remember how her touch and her kiss had bought him back to life in the after. He loved her, but she had betrayed him. How could they get past this? Was this the end of his marriage? Had he lost the woman he loved?

He sighed and stood up, pushing his phone into his back pocket and headed off to the hospital to start his shift.

Cristina hesitated at the entrance to Seattle Grace Mercy West. Through the glass doors she saw the staircase to the residents locker room to the right and the signs to the obstetrics wing to the left. She walked to the door, her hand shaking as she pushed the entry button, she stepped inside and turned left.

Owen hung back on his approach to the hospital. He watched, heavy hearted, as he saw his wife observe the signs for obstetrics and walk towards the staircase that would carry her to the place that she wanted to go and he so desperately wanted her not to. He felt his heart pounding in his chest and he took some deep breaths. He closed his eyes tight, trying to erase the image of his wife from his mind. After a few moments he snapped his head up and strode into the ER.

Cristina sat on the exam table, dressed in a patient gown with her legs hanging over the side. She kept looking at the door, almost willing those blue eyes to meet her's and those strong arms to come towards her and scoop her up and tell her it was ok. She didn't notice the tears in her eyes until they started to fall onto her hands that rested in her lap. The one person she needed to help her was the one person she had driven away.

"Cristina, we are ready to start now...Cristina?"

Owen was restless. He kept looking at the clock in the ER. He wanted to be with her, to tell her to take care now. The ER was quiet, a few minor injuries he wasn't needed on the floor. He told Jackson he would be back and turned on his heels and sprinted down the corridor. He didn't know what he was going to say or if he really wanted to be part of this but he knew he had to be with her. He wanted Cristina.

he turned into the obstetric department and pausing to catch his breath he saw her. The woman he loved with all his heart. She was sitting on the sofa in the waiting room. She had her elbows on her knees, head in her hands and her black curls tumbled around her shoulders. Owen noticed the tears in her eyes and knew he was too late. He stepped softly towards her and fiddled with his scrub top, unsure of what to say.

"Cristina?" he whispered and stared at the floor.

She looked up. He came! He was standing in front of her. Hr heart skipped a beat when he lifted his head and looked into her eyes. The piercing blue eyes that once lit up when saw her, looked like dams that could burst any moment.

"Owen...I...I...have to..." she stumbled for words as he stepped closer to her and took her hands. She stood up and felt the comforting heat of his body close to hers.

"Cristina, I am sorry..." his voice shook and he swallowed hard. He opened his mouth to continue but was silenced by her fingers pressed over his mouth. With her free hand she took his left hand in hers, the coolness of his wedding band was strangely comforting. She wrapped her fingers around the silver band and for a moment felt as though she had found her way home.

She looked up at him and love flooded through her. In that moment as he searched her face questioningly she knew she had done the right thing. She still had a lot to explain to him, but she felt able to do that. She had to because he was right- she loved him.

Taking his left hand more firmly in her's she moved it towards her body and placed his flat palm on her stomach and stroked the back of his hand.

"You are going to be a wonderful father. I love you."

Owen's eyes widened as he looked from his wife's tear stained face to their hands entwined on her stomach. All the anger and hurt was slowly disappearing and was replaced with the complete love for this woman and the child they had created together.

He moved his head towards her so their foreheads were touching. Not wanting to move his hand from her stomach he took her face in his other hand, stroking her cheek as he gently kissed her. As they broke apart he wrapped his arms around her, buried his face in her hair and smiled to himself, not wanting to be anywhere else but in this moment with his family.

Owen couldn't see but as he hugged her tight Cristina too was smiling against his chest. Feeling that she was exactly where she was meant to be- in the arms of the man she loved, the ,an she had missed for the past week. The man who had given her what she had always been afraid of- family.


	2. Chapter 2

Cristina ended the day in one of the places she loved the most-the OR. After the appointment, she had gone to change and Owen had paged her to scrub in with him. As they worked quickly to get the patient stabilised she felt owen's eyes on her. Looking at her like his wife, not his student. She felt herself glow from the inside out, so grateful that she had this man's love and support, in work and in life.

Owen Felt his wife's eyes on him as he stitched up the liver of the patient. Ordinarily he liked his residents to focus on the surgery but today he felt lucky- to be loved by this amazing woman, to soon become a father and raise a family together. As he put in the last stitch he found himself grinning behind his mask.

As they stood side by side scrubbing out she wondered if he wanted her to go with him to the other place she loved-their firehouse. She didn't want to assume or mention it It had been a tough day and she was just happy to be near him again.

Owen hit the taps off and watched the soapy water drain down the plug hole. It was as if he was watching all the pain of the past week ebb away, leaving the clean stainless steel sink fresh and unblemished.

He turned to his wife, marvelling in how beautiful she looked as she pulled of her scrub cap, letting her thick curls tumble over her shoulders.

"Give me half and hour and meet me outside the hospital." Owen stepped around her, dropped a kiss on her head and walked put of the scrub room.

Cristina was puzzled but took one last look at the OR and went to change in the residents locker room.

Standing outside the hospital she shivered against the biting wind and pulled her coat tightly around her. As her hand brushed against her stomach she felt the corners of her mouth curl into a small smile. Must be the hormones! She though, hugging herself tightly.

His truck pulling up to a standstill in front of her snapped her back into the cold evening. Owen wound down his window and said, "come on, get in"

She saw her bags on the back seat as she climbed in next to him and buckled her seat belt.

"you went to meredith's to get my things?" this was a genuine question, she nervously twisted her fingers together not daring to hope it meant what she thought it did.

Owen turned to her, tilted his head and half laughed "so?"

She laughed softly. That one word held so many memories, so much meaning for them both, she felt instantly closer to him again.

Still staring at her, Owen reached his hands up to cup her face and pulled her towards him. He softly stroked his lips against her's, testing whether she felt ok with this. When he felt her press her mouth harder against his he opened her mouth with his tongue and greedily kissed her, just as he had many times before. She ran her hands through his hair and over his face, wanting to become a part of him again. She wanted to bury herself in him but she knew there was something she had to do first.

Cristina broke away, breathing heavily. she placed her hands square on his muscular shoulders to push him back and fixed her eyes on his. Owen looked confused and she thought slightly worried.

"I love you." she reassured him, as he twisted a dark curl around his fingers. "I want you, but before that I need to explain all this. I need you to understand."

Looking relieved, Owen slid his hands away from her hair and placed them over her's on his shoulders. "ok, let's go home." with that he started the car and drove the short distance to their firehouse.

7 days earlier this had been the scene of their marriage going up in flames. Now back in the familiar surroundings of her home, she felt ready to let her husband in.

They sat down on their bed side by side, just their little fingers touching, and she immediately started talking, the words tumbling out like a torrent.

"Ok here it all is. Just listen. I am afraid...no I am terrified...that I will be a failure as a mother...it was easier to not do it at all than to try and fail."

She took a pause and glanced sideways at him. He was looking at the floor. She knew this hurt him to hear but she had to carry on.

"My mother was more interested in paint swatches than having a child. When my dad died she closed off even more and left me alone. I was 9! I had lost my dad, I needed a parent to tell me it wasn't my fault, that I could not have kept his heart beating, to tell me she loved me and we would be ok.

Tears started to fall down her cheeks. Owen looked at her and his heart broke for the pain she had been in for this long. He took her hand in his and she seemed to draw some strength from this as she took a deep breath and carried on.

"But she didn't. She barely even noticed me. So I retreated into my school work and college, medical school and tried to be the best. To not fail at anything else. But we fail all the time at work and people die. People die of the stupidest things- Lexie's mum died of the hiccups!" she stopped short, she didn't even realise that her voice had been getting louder as she had talked.

Owen held his arms open and Cristina fell into them, exhausted. For a few moments he rocked her and rubbed her back. He knew thinking about her dad was hard for her.

Being held in his arms, was like being plugged in to her power supply. She was recharged and had found the words to carry on.

Resting her head on his chest, her ear close to his heart, she carried on quietly. "you told me to be excellent. But what if I can't be an excellent mother and an excellent surgeon. Ellis grey couldn't and look at what Meredith went through and thatcher."

Owen sighed. He got it, he totally understood. Kissing her cheek, he whispered into her ear, "Cristina. I am not going anywhere without you. Our child will have 2 parents to love them and the rest we will figure out as we go."

"how do you always know just what to say?" Cristina smiled up at him, still curled up in his arms.

"because I know you, Cristina yang. I know who you are. We will both make mistakes as parents, but mistakes are how we learn."

Owen kissed his wife and lifted her off the bed and carried her to it's head. With his foot he kicked back the covers and deposited his wife on her side. He climbed over her and crawled under the covers himself. They found their familiar position.- Cristina propped up against the pillows and owen's head on her chest and his arms wrapped around her waist. Cristina stroked his hair as Owen stroked her still flat stomach.

Cristina closed her eyes, She knew there was more he needed to know but just for now she was happy to be back home.

Owen's eyes slowly moved shut and his last thought before he fell asleep for the first time in a week, was how content he was right now. He just could not sleep without her.


	3. Chapter 3

Cristina sleepily opened her eyes, stretched her arms above her head and rolled over. She reached out expecting to find the warm body of her husband lying next to her. When she felt the coolness of the cotton sheets but no Owen, she sat up, with a puzzled look on her face. Where was he?

Cristina pulled back the covers and climbed out of bed. Pulling her bathrobe around her she walked towards the bathroom. As she got closer she could hear strains of Neyo coming out of the radio. She pushed open the door and through the steam she could make out the outline of her husband standing under the powerful jet of the shower.

Owen stood and let the hot water beat down on him. As he rocked his head from side to side to wet his hair he thought about Cristina and their baby. He smiled to himself as he thought about how her beautiful body was protecting the tiny life. There was something very sensual about that thought. He was so lost in the vision of his wife he had conjured in his head that he did not notice the shower doors open.

Cristina opened the shower door and let her eyes wander over the view of her husband's back. She pursed her lips and took in every detail of his muscular shoulders, his pert bottom and thick legs. Dropping her bathrobe to the floor, she stepped in, ready to get her husband to give her a hand.

Owen moved his hands around the back of his neck, rubbing shower gel across his skin and letting the bubbles run down his back. Suddenly the temperature of the shower felt hotter and he knew exactly why.

Cristina stood on tiptoes, wrapped her arms around Owen's waist and kissed the back of his neck.

"Mmmm, good morning." Owen growled softly as he spun round to face his wife. Looking deep into those soulful brown eyes, he gave her a seductive smile and pulled her under the water pressing his body hard against her's. She moved her hands up around his neck and kissed him slowly, deeply as her curls began to transform into a straight blanket around her shoulders.

"So, I am trying to get clean and yet it seems things are about to get really dirty in here." Owen murmured against her mouth between kisses.

"So?" Cristina whispered, biting his lower lip teasingly.

Like a moth to a flame, Owen needed no encouragement. He pushed her back against the tiled wall and kissed her hungrily once more. Cristina responded digging her nails into his back, clinging onto him as her tongue explored her mouth. Bringing her hands to his shoulders she pushed down. Owen got the message and was happy to oblige.

Owen knelt down in front of his wife and lightly ran his fingers up her inner thighs. Enjoying the sensation Cristina inched her feet along the shower floor so he legs were hip width apart. As he followed his fingers with soft nibbling kisses, Cristina let her head drop back in anticipation of the sensation that she knew was coming.

Owen licked his lips staring at the shaven entry to one area of his wife's body he craved more than any other. He inched his long finger inside, she was already wet and hot. He could feel his cock hardening at how turned on she was. He moved his thumb in circle against her clit, which was throbbing an hard against his touch.

Cristina shuddered, like a thermometer she could feel herself getting hotter and her body getting tighter. She braced herself with her hands against the wall. She was ready to totally submit to him, he had total power over her right now.

As Owen began to feast on the delicious juices his touch had garnered, Cristina began to moan and clutched onto his hair, pulling his face and tounge further between her legs.

"Don't stop...Owen...don't stop" she began to breath faster and her words got more strangled as waves of pleasure threatened to bring her over the edge.

Feeling that his wife was close to an orgasm, Owen abruptly stopped and in one motion stood up and spun Cristina around so her hands were above her head against the wall. Forcing her legs apart with his knee, he positioned himself behind her and thrust his rock hard cock inside her and began to pound her as he tugged on her nipples and bit into her neck.

Cristina gasped as he husband filled her up with his length. As they melted into a fast and deep rhythm she closed her eyes. Planting her palms flat against the wall she thrust back against him.

"Owen... I'm...going...to..." she breathed furiously.

"yes...baby, I'm with you.." Owen's voice was equally as breathless.

With a final hard thrust against each other Cristina let her head fling back and rest on Owen's shoulder and let the waves of the orgasm envelop her. In that moment she felt so satisfied, she was exactly where she was meant to be.

Owen emptied his load into his wife and pecked kisses across her temple. He wrapped her in his arms and pressed his face into her neck.

"I love you Cristina Yang."

Turning around to face him, she stroked his face- Just as she had the first time she had stepped into the shower with him to comfort him when he had been reliving a painful war memory.

Looking into his blue eyes now, she saw him. Her husband, full of life and love. Maybe not totally healed but healing.

Snuggling into his chest and feeling his embrace tighten, she whispered, "I love you more, Owen Hunt."

The water sprayed over them both while they just stood in each others arms- totally connected.

Cristina, wrapped in a soft grey towel, sat cross legged on the bed watching Owen button up his shirt. She wondered how it was that there seemed to be that one person for everyone, the one person who knew you inside out physically, emotionally and just made you feel whole. As she was thinking she absentmindedly traced the letter O on her stomach, letting her baby know the importance of that letter in her life. The symbol of the man who had removed her icicle and allowed her to feel love so deeply that it took her breath away.

Owen snapped his last button shut and turned around to say goodbye to his wife. He saw her smiling and touching her stomach and it made his heart swell with pride. He loved this woman totally, with all her idiocyrancies and ambition. She made him more than he ever hoped he could be in the after and for that he owed her everything.

Pulling Cristina to her feet, wrapping his arms around her he lifted her feet off the ground and kissed her. "See you two later."

Placing her back on the floor he kissed his fingers, pressed them to her stomach, gave her one last peck on the cheek, grabbed his keys from the night stand and walked out of the house.

All Cristina could do was smile. Walking to the kitchen, she grabbed the cereal box and settled down on the sofa to watch an aortic arch dissection repair. Perfect day!


	4. Chapter 4

Owen jumped in his car and turned over the engine. It had been a long day in the pit. Lots of trauma cases, long difficult surgeries and a mountain of charting. Owen just wanted to get home, eat and curl up on the couch with his wife. Cristina had been off today and it felt strange not to have seen her around the hospital. He supposed he would have to get used to it once she went on maternity leave. He smiled to himself, as he pulled out of the parking lot, in 6 months time he would have 2 favourite people to curl up with each night.

Owen walked up the steps into the firehouse. Half way up he heard the sound of crying. Picking up the pace he took the remaining stairs 2 at a time, worried about what had happened.

"Cristina!" he called out urgently, following the sound into the kitchen. It was there he spotted his wife- crumpled in a heap on the floor in front of the oven. With his heart in his mouth he asked "what's wrong? What happened?"

Pushing her black curls off her face, she tilted her head up to meet her husbands worried gaze, her brown eyes full of tears and sobbed.

"I wanted to make dinner for you...I went to the store...bought a chicken...put it in the oven...and forgot to turn it on!" as the last words in the sentence came out she began to cry and her tiny body heaved with gut wrenching tears.

Owen laughed out loud, shaking his head at the drama over a chicken. He walked over to her and sat down on the floor next to her. Lifting her up to a sitting position, with a smile on his face, he said "don't worry about it, I will order us a pizza or Thai whatever you want ok?"

The smile on her husband's face was like a red rag to a bull. Sucking in her breath, she narrowed her eyes, clenched her fists and boomed "it is NOT ok! why are you laughing? You think it's funny that I can't get a simple thing like flicking a switch right?"

Owen sat still, wiped the smile off his face and just let his wife rant. He was getting used to the mood swings and through trial and error was finding the best way to ride them out was not to fight back. One of the by products of cristina's pregnancy he could not say he was enjoying! Her growing bump, her increased sex drive for sure! But the emotional roller coaster not so much.

"cristina.." Owen soothed gently and rubbed her back.

His touch just inflamed her more. Shrugging him off she dragged herself to her feet. She stood over him jabbing her finger to punctuate her words.

"you don't get it, do you? What will happen when the baby is hungry and you are not here? What then? Babies can't eat cereal out of the box Owen!"

She spat his name out like it offend her. Owen sighed, his vision of a peaceful night on the couch with his wife ebbing away. Getting up on to his feet and he began to gently inch towards his wife, with his arms outstretched. He tried again. "Cristina." he whispered.

As she saw him walking towards her, the anger turned into sadness. She was going to disappoint him, she would not be the mother that he or their child deserved.

Just as Owen approached her to take her in his arms. She pushed both hands hard against his chest and shoved him backwards. The force of the gesture took him by surprise and he ricocheted off the counter top, bumping his elbow.

"ouch! What the...!" Owen rubbed his elbow and looked at his wife completely confused.

"this is all your fault. You and your hot sex getting me pregnant. You and your romantic lines telling me I could be a good mother." howled Cristina the tears falling down her cheeks once again.

"you telling me you would stay through it all and now look at me! Look at what you have done to me! I did not give you permission to do this! Now you are going to leave me because I can't switch on an oven!" not waiting for an answer Cristina ran in to the bathroom, slammed the door, climbed into the bathtub and cried her heart out.

Owen busied himself in the kitchen for 10 minutes getting some dinner ready on a tray.

Perching the tray on his forearm, he rapped on the bathroom door. "Cristina, I'm coming in."

Opening the door he spied his wife lying in the empty bath. He couldn't help but grin at the sight. Her eyes were all puffy, she was pouting and twisting a curl between her thumb and finger. She looked like a little girl in a sulk over a broken toy.

Setting the tray on the tiled floor, he Climbed into the tub behind her, he sat down and positioned her so her back was leaning against his chest. He squeezed her between his thighs and she responded by snuggling back against him. Running his hands over their baby bump she interlaced her fingers with his.

"I'm sorry. It's the hormones," cristina said contritely.

"I know." Owen dropped a kiss on her curls. "you need to stop worrying, it's not good for the baby." Cristina nodded slowly.

"I just don't want you to be disappointed in me. I love how you have always believed that I could be excellent even when I didn't but now I feel like this is something that I am going to fail at." She could feel the tears at the back of her eyes, she wiped her hand across her face and pulled Owen's arms around her more tightly.

"listen to me" Owen spoke softly into her ear. "we are a partnership. We are doing this together. I will not let you fail, just like you won't let me. We are going to figure this all out. I am not going anywhere Cristina. You and our baby are the most important people in my life."

Feeling the tension drain from her body, Cristina turned her head over her shoulder and caught Owen's lips in a soft kiss. Resting her cheek on his chest she mumbled "I love you."

"I love you too, more than yesterday but less than tomorrow." Owen rested his chin on the top of her head and for a few minutes they sat in the bathtub just enjoying being with each other.

When cristina shuffled to change position, owen Reached over the side of the bath down to the tray and handed Her the box of cereal.

"let's have dinner. I'm starving. I don't really like chicken anyway!" they both laughed and plunged their hands into the box of their favourite heart happy cereal.


	5. Chapter 5

The first 12 weeks of pregnancy had taken their toll on both Cristina and Owen. The morning sickness, constant feelings of nausea, at the most irritating times like on rounds or scrubbing into cool surgeries, and the overwhelming tiredness. On Cristina's part the tiredness was due to the physical changes her body was going through, on Owen's part he was exhausted by his wife's rapidly growing sex drive. He was not complaining, what man would, but his wife had taken to paging him all over the hospital. The mere distance his feet were travelling to find these private places was exercise enough!

They had still not shared their news with anyone other than Meredith, due to the fact Cristina had lived there for the week they no longer mentioned. Cristina was still able to hide her 12 week old bump under a Slightly looser scrub top. They were enjoying it being their secret for as long as possible. Neither one of them wanting to be the topic of hospital gossip.

Cristina was woken by the sound of Owen's voice and the vibrations it sent through her stomach. "do you know what day it is today, baby hunt?" Owen's lips moved against the bare skin of her ever increasing bump. "time for your first photograph." lazily stroking owen's hair, Cristina smiled at the sweetness of her husband talking to their child but couldn't quite push away the niggling feeling that something was going to be wrong.

"Owen, what will we do if there is a problem with the baby?" Cristina was in the shower, watching Owen brush his teeth at the bathroom sink.

Spitting the toothpaste into the bowl Owen glanced over his shoulder and caught sight of the soap bubbles trickling over their baby bump. With a contented sigh, he removed his sweatpants, reached out and opened the shower door. Stepping under the warm water, he took his wife's hand in his and placed it on her stomach.

"this is a healthy baby... He or she is perfect." Owen's soothing tones made Cristina instantly relax. She trusted him like she had never allowed herself to trust anyone. She wanted to believe him. He had so much faith in her and in their future together it made her feel safe.

Pressing her tiny body tightly against him she felt his strong arms envelope her as the water fell over them. Just in those moments as they stood there, the water washed away her fears, her doubts and all she was left with was hope.

Later that day, after a busy morning in the clinic, Upstairs in OB Lying back on the exam table, Cristina was nervous. It had taken her so long to want to be a mother that she silently prayed that everything was where it should be and there would be no complications.

"sorry, I'm late" Owen burst into the exam room, panting from running up the stairs. "I was with a kid who got put through a spin cycle in a washing machine. Crush injuries and some burns. But he's gonna survive."

Cristina nodded wide eyed and made a mental note to get Owen to put a child lock on the washing machine before the baby arrived.

The OB resident swept in to the room in a business like manner. "right, let's get a look at this baby."

Owen positioned himself by cristina's head and she grabbed his hand and squeezed it tight.

"ok, there's the head, the left arm... The..." the resident reeled off the anatomy on the screen.

"We are both doctors we know how to read a ultrasound!" Cristina snapped at the resident dragging the wand across the jelly on her stomach. "just tell me that everything is where it needs to be? It's not eptopic or anything is it?"

As she asked the question, Cristina tried to sound casual. She didn't want Owen to read anything into it.

"no, everything looks good. Size is good for 12 weeks, position is good. Do you want to hear the heartbeat?" the OB resident soften slightly to reassure Cristina. She had read the file so could understand her concerns.

Cristina breathed out and looked relieved. She turned to Owen and asked him " do you want to hear the heartbeat daddy?"

A grin broke across Owen's face and as he slowly nodded Cristina thought she could see tears in his eyes.

The resident flipped the switched on the machine and the rhythmical pumping of the tiny heart filled the room. It was the most beautiful sound Cristina had ever heard! Her baby's heartbeat! Their baby's heartbeat!

Owen's breath caught in his throat. He gazed down at his wife and was overcome with how much he loved her, how much he needed her and how lucky he was to have found his way back to her. To her and this tiny life, whose heart was beating in synch with his own.

He bent down and kissed Cristina. She kissed him back and as he pulled away she gently stroked the side of his face and mouthed I love you, not wanting to interrupt the sound of their child speaking to them.

Once the resident had printed out the pictures and handed them to Owen she switched off the machine, gathered the chart and walked towards the door.

Owen helped cristina sit up and she busied herself wiping the jelly off her stomach.

Just before she left the room, the resident turned and said " Dr Yang, try to relax now. There is no indication at this stage that anything will go wrong with your pregnancy this time."

As the door closed Owen looked at the retreating figure of the resident with a puzzled expression.

Cristina knew the question that was coming. Taking a deep breath as Owen spun round to face her she looked up at him.

"Cristina? What did she mean by this time?" Owen asked quietly, even though he could already guess the answer.

She knew this was the moment she had been dreading.

Sliding off the exam table, she took Owen by the hand. "not here" she whispered as she pulled him behind her, he put up no resistance, and they made their way to the basement, to the place where they had had all their difficult conversations- the vents. 


	6. Chapter 6the vents

They stood facing each other on the vent. The hot air whooshed around them, sending Cristina's black curls cascading into the space around them.

For what seemed like an eternity neither of them said a word. The only sounds that could be heard was the hiss and rumbling of the air as it built in pressure in the metal pipes. The force of the jet that exploded from the vent nearly knocked them both off their feet. This seemed to act as a catalyst- the pressure was too great the words had to escape.

"So let me guess how it goes." Owen's tone was accusatory and she could sense he was seething with anger. "Not only were you going to marry the wonderful Preston Burke but you were also going to have a family with him. No doubts, no hesitation. You were going to have the life with him that I have had to fight you every step of the way to even consider having with me?"

Owen knew he was shouting but he could not hold back. As he looked at his wife he was taken back to that night in the firehouse when she had told him she had made the appointment to terminate their pregnancy. This just felt like another betrayal and it hurt. It cut through his heart like a scalpel. He knew that the scalpel ultimately cut to make things better, he hoped this pain would turn into healing pain too. He got Cristina, he knew her but right now he could not understand her.

"How dare you!" Cristina shot back. As she spoke another jet from the vent escaped and for a moment cleared the hostile air between them. Exhaling with the steam she steeled herself to tell him the whole, painful truth.

"At least hear me out before inventing your own version of events. You can't get mad or be angry at me because all this was before I knew you." Softening her tone, she gazed into those blue eyes that could still take her breath away. "Before I loved you. Ok?"

Hearing her say those 3 words, the 3 words that had killed him to keep inside when he was putting himself back together to try and be a better man for her, centred him, the anger started to seep away. Closing his eyes and reaching for her hand, Owen nodded and softly agreed. "Ok. I'm listening."

Inching closer to him, she took his other hand in hers. She needed to keep him physically close to her while she explained, she could not bear the thought of him slipping away from her again, especially not over Burke.

"I was an intern and Burke and I had been sleeping together for a while. I was wowed by him, he was a world renowned cardio god, I wanted to learn from him. Then it turned into just sex."

Noting that Owen was uncomfortably looking down at his feet, she gently squeezed his hands and slightly changed tack.

"The chief had stepped aside, after he had an operation, and Burke was asked to step up. So Burke being Burke broke up with me. He claimed to love me and chose his career!" Cristina let out a small laugh and the irony of what she described was not lost on Owen. He gave a half smile and his eyes widened in question, silently willing her to continue.

Cristina nodded and looking him straight in the eye, continued in a voice not much louder than a whisper.

"I found out I was pregnant and scheduled an abortion." Owen's face fell. The words hung in the air between them. He opened his mouth to speak but words failed him.

"Don't say anything Owen. I need you to understand where I was at in my life. I was an intern, pregnant by a powerful man who had tossed me aside and I had let him. I didn't want to be a mother and now I am glad I did not have his baby or I would still be tied to him."

"What did he say when you told him you didn't want to go through with the pregnancy? That is what I don't understand, how you could involve him in the discussion but not me!" Owen was exasperated and he had to admit jealous. He had never before been threatened by Preston Burke and the legacy of his relationship with Cristina but in this situation he could not shake the feeling that what she had with Burke was more significant than anything he shared with her.

Cristina shook her head and adamantly declared "I didn't tell him about any of it. The first he knew of the pregnancy was post op after I had a miscarriage and lost a fallopian tube."

"Cristina…..I'm sorry….I just assumed…." Owen looked up at her but for the first time ever she couldn't read his emotions. He just looked blank and exhausted.

Recalling the actual events of the miscarriage were difficult for Cristina. At the time it had plunged her into an emotional rollercoaster that she had no control over and it scared her that she could feel that much. Telling Owen re-opened the jar of feelings she had squeezed the lid shut on and locked away. But she had to tell him, she had to let him in to her before and trust that he could help her leave it there.

"I was in his OR and I collapsed. Addison found I was having an extra uterine pregnancy and the left fallopian tube was too damaged so she removed it. Even though I was never intending to go through with the pregnancy, I grieved for the baby. I cried- I couldn't stop. It was like I was outside my body looking in." Tears escaped from her eyes and she gave into them. Her body softly heaving with tears, just standing on the vent.

Not knowing how else to help the woman he loved so desperately, Owen did the one thing that felt so natural. He pulled Cristina against his chest, wrapped his arms around her and gently rocked her from side to side, just as he had the day she had confessed to missing her father.

Squeezing tighter into Owen's embrace, Cristina felt like everything that had happened with Burke had bought her exactly where she was supposed to be.

"After he left me at the altar there was no one else. Until you."

Leaning backwards and cupping her husbands face in her hands, she traced her fingers over the stubble on his chin. "You bought me back to life. now I know what love is. You. You for me are what love is. You are who I was meant for." She pulled his face towards her and kissed him, deeply and longingly. She thought about the first tine they had kissed on this spot and how now this kiss was more loaded with passion, love and connection.

"I love you. I love you more than I loved Burke I love you. That is why I had the doubts about our baby."

As she stressed the word _our_ she placed both of Owen's hands on her rounded abdomen. Owen responded by moving his own body closer to hers and tilting his head so their foreheads were touching. "I love you so much that to let you down, to be a bad mother to your child would break me. After everything that's happened I don't know if I am that strong anymore."

Cristina paused. She bent her head down and felt tears at the backs of her eyes again. Owen took in every detail of his wife in front of him. He knew what the shooting had cost her professionally and how she had struggled to come through it. He kissed her forehead and rested his chin on the top of her head. Cristina place her left hand on his chest to feel his heartbeat- strong, regular, just like their baby's heartbeat had been minutes earlier. These 2 connected sounds made her feel safe- the 2 people who her heart now beated for.

"With Burke I was forced to imagine the huge life he saw for himself and my small role within it. With you, my husband, I can see that we are just at the start of the huge life that you saw for us. I see it Owen and I want it with you. It just took me a while to realise it"

She stopped. There was no more to say. The part of her past she kept so guarded was free. Snuggling into each other once again, Cristina, Owen and their baby just waited on the vent. Another burst of smoke exploded from the vent and carried her words and all the feelings associated with them away.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 5- the anniversary

Crisitna and her 5 month old baby bump had just got comfortable on the bed in the on call room where she and Owen had laid and just slept together for the first time. Whenever she was at the hospital and her husband wasn't working she would sleep in this room- it made her feel close to him. She was 10 hours into a 12 hour shift and was exhausted. It had been a busy night of consults in the pit but she hadn't yet seen the inside of an OR or even held a scalpel. Now her pregnancy was clearly showing, and everyone knew about it, she had found that she had to field numerous questions from patients as she tried to diagnose their problems, so each consult was taking her twice as long - "how far along are you? Is it your first? do you know what your having? Is your husband excited?" She had never been that interested in talking to pregnant people about their babies before but now she was one she was enjoying it. Not that she would ever admit that to anyone. Meredith had caught her earlier tracing the letter O on her stomach at the nurses station.

"Cristina, are you going all soppy mummy on me?" Meredith had asked laughing.

"Shut up! it's the hormones." Cristina had replied shutting the chart and walking quickly back towards the ER. As she walked she put her hand on her stomach and whispered to the baby "it's not, but I still need aunt Meredith to believe I am hardcore, ok?"

Snuggling deeper into the pillows she closed her eyes and began to wonder what Owen was doing right now as she drifted off to sleep.

Unbeknown to his sleeping wife, Owen had just arrived at the doors of Seattle Grace Mercy West.

_Beep, beep, beep, beep_. The screech if the pager woke Cristina with a start. As she sat up, she reached out to see what the emergency was.

_Torres OR2. _She sighed, Cristina hated ortho but hey at least she would end her shift in the OR. She dragged herself off the bed in the on call room and adjusted her scrub top, patted her bump and made her way towards the surgical elevator. "Come on, let's gone screw some bones!"

When she got to the doors of the scrub room she could not hear the normal sounds of the operating room being preped. It was almost silent apart from the soft melody of the colour of love, by Boyz 2 men. That was weird, Callie usually liked to listen to the Red Hot chilli peppers as she hammered and scrapped bones or fixed metal into patients joints. Checking her pager again to make sure she had read the right OR she pushed open the door.

Cristina entered the scrub room and gasped. Through the glass she could see the OR table covered with a red table cloth, the same red as her wedding dress had been, 2 silver candle sticks, 2 wine glasses filled with what looked like ginger beer and a pizza box. Standing behind one of the stools stood her gorgeous husband in her favourite shirt and black jeans.

"Happy anniversary Cristina". Owen smiled as she entered the OR and handed her the glass of ginger beer. When her morning sickness had been really bad Owen had gone to the store at all hours of the day and night to get this same drink for her.

"Owen, I can't believe you did all this! I didn't get you anything!" it amazed her that with his busy schedule he had taken the time to do this for her. He was such a romantic. If it had been anyone else Cristina would have found it sickening but with Owen she loved the thoughtful gestures and the sweet moments that they shared both in the hospital or at their firehouse.

Owen pulled back the stood in front of him and gestured for Cristina to sit down. He kissed her on the cheek and moved to the opposite side of the table to take his seat.

As they began to eat the pizza, Cristina mused on why he had bought her here.

"We could have gone to a restaurant you know" Crisitina was playfully mocking him.

Fixing his wife with an intense look of love, Owen explained why they were spending their first wedding anniversary eating in a place that most people never want to spend anytime, let alone actually eat a meal.

"I wanted to bring you to one of the places you love the most. Where you are completely the woman I fell in love with. This is your OR Cristina- you performed your first solo surgery here- the hernia repair and your first solo cardio, you kicked me out of here for distracting you, we operated together for the first time in here, you saved Derek and Callie and watched me get shot in here after I told you that you were the woman I loved totally, definitely, no question, no doubts. I have sat in that gallery and watched you be excellent more times than I can count. I feel lucky to have the next 40 years to love you and be loved by you."

Cristina reached across the table to entwine her fingers with his. Feeling his touch, hearing how much he believed in her as a surgeon, as a wife and as a woman and looking around at all the effort he hade made for her bought tears to her eyes.

"Why are you crying?" Owen's tone was genuinely worried and he searched her face for an answer.

Dabbing her eyes with her fingers, Cristina squeezed his hand and reassured him "I love you. It's perfect! Owen, we're perfect!"

"well, thank goodness for that!" Owen mock sighed and grinned back at his wife. Drinking in how beautiful she was, especially in her scrubs, and catching sight of their baby bump always made his heart skip a beat with pride.

Owen stood up and walked to stand beside Cristina. Gently he pulled her to her feet and cupped her stomach in his hands.

"I have a gift for you". Owen took a small purple box out of his pocket with one hand, held it on his open palm and offered it to her. Cristina took the box and prised the lid open. When she saw what was inside she gently laughed. Inside was a thin silver chain with a diamond charm on the end- an icicle.

"You are giving me back my icicle?"

"So?" Owen raised his eyebrows seductively. Reaching out and pulling his wife towards him, he kissed her, just as he had the very first time 3 years ago.

Against her mouth he murmured, "I knew from the moment that I first saw you that I was going to love you. I never expected you to love me back, especially after everything that has happened."

Taking the necklace out of the box, Owen fastened it around the bare neck that he still found such a turn on.

Cristina snaked her arms up around his neck and looked deep into his blue eyes. "I love you Owen Hunt. You have given me the life I never even knew I wanted and the family I was so afraid of."

Pressing their foreheads together they stood in the stillness of the OR. Owen kissed Cristina's forehead and she tilted her head up to catch his lips in a deeper kiss. Separating his lips with her tongue Cristina slowly began unbuttoning his shirt.

"Cristina…we can't… not here" neither his tone or body were putting up any resistance as he tugged at the hair band and let her curls tumble loose down her back.

"Owen this is my OR!" she dropped his shirt to the ground and began unbuckling his belt. Sliding her body down his legs she knelt in front of him, her fingers dancing across the hardening length beneath his jeans.

Owen let out a soft moan as he leant back against the OR table.

Cristina opened her mouth, inches away from beginning to pleasure her husband. "Now DR Hunt are you going to be first assist or not?"

To be continued…x


	8. Chapter 8

"Now DR Hunt are you going to be first assist or not?"

"YES!" Owen breathed urgently as Cristina took his hardening length in her hands and began to gently pull on it in rhythmical strokes, whilst teasing the tip with her warm breath and soft kisses.

_She was right, her hands are tiny geniuses! _Owen thought as he gave himself over to her touch and toyed with her dark, satin curls between his fingers.

Feeling his long, thick cock begin to pulse beneath her touch, she took it into her mouth and began to take it progressively deeper. Owen responded by lightly rocking his hips forward and back.

"Take your pants off!" Cristina demanded holding him inches away from her mouth.

"Yes doctor!" Owen used his feet to slide his pants and boxers down and kicked them to one side.

"now I can get better access!" Cristina place both hands on his hips and pulled him back into her mouth sucking him with more force this time.

"Crisitina Yang." Owen growled letting his head drop back over his shoulders. He felt himself moving closer to the edge but could not allow himself to give in. Using all his willpower he gently pushed her back, his cock standing erect at a right angle to his body dragged Cristina to her feet.

Furiously he clawed at her clothes, tugging at the tie to her scrub pants and pushing them down to reveal a lacy red thong and her shapely legs. The red lace against her skin kicked his desires up another notch and in one swift movement he had freed her from her scrub top. He bit his lower lip as he let his eyes wander over her swollen breast encased in the delicate lace fabric. He felt another tightening in his groin and sharply pulled her towards him. Swishing her around in a half circle and forcing her down on to her back on the OR table he climbed on top of her and kissed her fiercely, just as he had that night in the alley at Joe's. However, this time there was no confusion from Cristina- she responded as desperately, wanting to merge every part of her body with his, wanting him so much as she gripped onto his shoulders and wrapped her legs around his muscular lower back.

With one arm wrapped around her waist, Owen manoeuvred himself so his other hand was free. His fingers danced over her tingling skin and she let out a soft purr "Owen…mmmm"

His circled his finger over her nipples and felt them harden and press against the burgeoning red lace of the bra.

"You are still wearing too many clothes, Dr Yang" Owen laughed seductively and proceeded with his one free hand to rip off both her bra and thong, tearing at the fabric like an animal clawing at its prey. He dropped them to the floor and looked into her eyes, "Oops, sorry, it's the trauma surgeons way- quick and dirty! Looks like I owe you some underwear!"

"well I can think of a way you can start to make it up to me right now" Cristina giggled. "it may not be quick but I can guarantee it will be very dirty!"

An intense and lingering look passed between them and froze them for a moment. Then, reading each others desires like a book, they crashed their lips together in another sensual and lustful kiss. Their hands caressed, stroked, scratched and explored every inch of each others bodies, their lips never breaking apart and their tongues claiming each others mouths as solely theirs .

Owen traced the outline of her baby bump with his palm and as he did he softened his kiss, wanting to let his wife know how grateful he was for this life they had created and how much he loved her. Crisitina reciprocated, her kiss telling him thank you for staying through it all and for making her feel safe.

Owen dragged his lips across her cheek and down into the crook of her neck, nibbling her ear lobe and leaving a trail of tiny lovebites in his wake. Cristina wriggled as she enjoyed the tickling sensations her husband was creating.

Suddenly, Cristina let out a loud gasp as Owen plunged 3 of his fingers deep inside her. She was wet and welcoming.

"I was not expecting that" she squeeled.

"You told me you wanted dirty! I am excellent at dirty." Owen murmured into her neck.

"Yes…..yes….you….are" Crisitina managed to choke out the words as she arched her back and bucked against his fingers for what felt like an eternity.

"I'm close" she moaned wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I'm hard" he grunted as he pulled his fingers out and replaced them with his rock hard cock.

"YES!" Crisitina screamed as Owen thrust hard inside her "YES! YES!" She didn't care if anyone in the adjoining could hear them, she was powerless against her husband's hot and excellent sex!

Her legs wrapped back around his waist and she dug her nails into his back, pulling him deeper into her. She felt his body begin to tense, she knew he wouldn't be able to hold back much longer.

"Owen, I need you now". With that declaration from his wife he began to empty himself into her, his body shuddering. Cristina gave herself over to him entirely and felt the waves of the most intense orgasm she had every had ripple through her body. In the final moments of their joint climax, their sweat dripping bodies clung to each other as their pounding hearts found their regular, connected rhythm as they caught their breath.

Laying curled up in each others arms on the OR table wrapped in the tablecloth, Owen stroked Cristina's stomach as she ran her fingers over his stubble, she started to laugh.

"I cannot believe that we just had sex in OR2!"

"So?" Owen chuckled. "Did your husband do good? First anniversary, did I pass?"

"Best anniversary ever!" Crisitina told him as she nuzzled deeper into his chest and squeezed him even tighter. "Can't wait to see what you pull out next year!"


	9. Chapter 9

Kicking off her shoes, dropping her coat and bag onto the floor, Cristina flopped down onto the sofa and pulled the blanket over her. She was exhausted. She had been in the OR nearly 10 hours, with a couple of short breaks to grab a quick bite to eat and go to the bathroom. Long Surgeries were no joke at 6 and a half months pregnant, but she had to keep her OR hours up now before she went on maternity leave or it may affect her chances of getting accepted onto a prestigious cardio fellowship.

She had not even seen Owen since yesterday. he had been called into a trauma late last night and had not got home by the time she left. She had not seen him all day at the hospital either, she missed catching a glimpse of his red hair or blue eyes. He had been so busy in these past few weeks she felt like they were room mates more than husband and wife.

Curling deeper under the blanket, Cristina prayed that he would be home soon. She really wanted to curl up with her baby and her gorgeous husband.

Owen had been locked in the chief's office all day helping with him with some administrative duuties. The chief's wife, Adele, was getting more confused and having fewer lucid periods so Owen had offered to help Richard where he could.

Owen thought of how he would cope if he felt his wife slipping away in front of his eyes. He was desperate to see her, to hold her, to tell her how much he loved her. Gazing out of the window at the dark Seattle night, he wished that the post operative data he had been collating all data would make itself into a powerpoint presentation so he could go home.

Cristina was restless waiting for Owen so she busied herself reading a medical journal on the couch. About an hour into reading it, she felt her phone vibrate and saw a text message from her husband flash up on the screen:

Leaving now. Be home in 20 minutes, can't wait to see you. I Love

Smiling, Cristina felt suddenly energised. She hauled herself and her bump off the sofa and waddled into the bathroom. She pushed the plug in and started to run the hot water into the roll top bathtub that stood in the centre of the room.

"Let's do something nice for Daddy, shall we?" Cristina had fallen into the habit of tracing O's on her stomach when talking to the baby. She found it comforting, her own way of keeping owen physically connected to the baby when he wasn't around. But at the same time it annoyed her that she was one of those simple girls who got soppy about babies and fawned over the tiny clothes. She had found herself actually volunteering to hold Zola or babysit Sophia! Hormones had a lot to answer for!

Lighting some candles and pouring in some bath oil, Cristina removed her clothes, pulled her hair up in a loose bun and climbed into the inviting water. Relaxing back she began to feel a flutter of excitement at the fact that the man she loved so fiercely would be coming back to her any minute.

When she heard footsteps running up the stairs she called out, "Owen, I'm in the bathroom."

As fast as his feet would take him, Owen hurried across the living room floor, flung open the bathroom door and grinned at the sight that greeted him.

Cristina was lying in a bath full of bubbles with just her bump visible through the suds.

"hello, stranger!" Owen exclaimed, he could not hide the joy in his voice. The vision of his wife in his eyes made his heart skip a beat. As she wriggled in the water, he also felt a tightening in groin as the oily water danced over her curves.

Smiling back at him, Cristina enquired innocently "why are you still full clothed standing there looking at me, when you should be naked sitting in here with me?"

Owen quickly removed his clothes, leaving them in a heap on the floor and climbed in to the tub behind Cristina. She snuggled into his chest, resting her head on his collar bone. Owen moved his hands, stroking her stomach, letting his baby know that he was back.

"How was your day?" He asked as he slid further down into the hot liquid. Owen wet his hands in the oily water and began to knead cristina's shoulders. She felt tense.

"that's nice"' cristina half smiled and For a few moments allowed Owen to rub away all the knots left behind by the long surgery.

Turning her head to catch his lips in her's Cristina whispered throatily "ln answer to your question, my day was long..." she nibbled on his bottom lip "and hard," she felt him smile against her mouth and he cupped her chin in one hand and deepened their kiss.

Owen caressed his wife's face with his finger tips as he hungrily explored her mouth with his tongue. Cristina responded, drinking in every inch of this man who had chosen her to love.

"I want you." she hissed as Owen ran his hands down the side of her neck and Cristina felt her nipples harden at his light touch.

Owen bent his head to lightly kiss along her collar bone and his hands enveloped her breasts. He gently tugged on her nipples until they tingled and stood errect.

"mmmmm" Cristina moaned, giving herself over totally to her husband. He knew every nerve ending, every sensitive spot on her body and she wanted him to take it all. It was all his.

The hormones of the pregnancy had only acted to heighten the intense longing she had for her husband's touch. She had never wanted anyone or anything as much as she craved Owen. He was like an addiction- he gave her a rush, a high she was constantly chasing. Just as she had been chasing surgery, thinking it would be the one thing that really mattered in her life. But that was before. Before Owen, before their baby. Now, in the after, she often thought to herself that what really mattered was this- not just the sex, but the being with him, the loving him, being loved by him, morphing, merging, changing. He was her pure adrenaline!

Owen reached his left hand around cristina's waist and snaked his fingers down between her legs. She gripped his hand and moved it to exactly where she wanted it to be- on her throbbing clit. Owen took the hint and began to dance his fingers in circular motions, causing Cristina to purr as she snaked her arms up behind her and around his neck. He muzzled his face into her neck and whispered, "I think you are beautiful"

Cristina shifted, melting her back further into his chest, the friction of the water and the bath oil moulding them to each other. Owen increased the pressure on her clit and felt her begin to harden beneath his touch. In turn, Cristina could feel his hardening length in the small of her back, which only acted to turn her on even more.

"I need you Cristina. I love you." Owen growled into her ear and in one definate movement he grabbed her by the hips and deposited her onto his rock hard cock.

"Owen!" Cristina gasped as he filled her up and began lazily moving his hips in a rhythmical lilt. Gripping on to the sides of the bath, she fell into step with his movements as water splashed onto the bathroom floor, the pressure too much to hold it back.

"oh, yes Cristina..." Owen moaned as he dug his fingers onto her hips pulling her further down onto his length. He wanted to completely bury himself in her, for her to take everything he had to offer. Moving her tiny body slightly faster Owen hardened. Cristina let out a yelp of pleasure and begged him " don't stop...keep going...keep going...please!"

As owen pounded deeper and faster into her cristina Gripped fhe side of the bath tighter as waves of pleasure shook her to the core.

"I'm...going...to..." cristina's heart was pounding, her breath coming rapidly.

"I'm here...I'm right here!" Owen chocked the words out moments before he smashed his body into her back and clung on tight as they climaxed hard together.

Splashing back in the water, resting against the tub, Owen wrapped his arms around his wife and interlaced their fingers around their baby. They sat still and silent, both feeling content, until all 3 heartbeats found a normal, common rhythm.

"what are you thinking?" Cristina questioned, as she moved onto her side so she could she her husband's face.

"I was thinking about the Chief." Owen replied evenly.

Cristina furrowed her brow, this is weird she thought "ok?"

"he is having such a hard time. The woman he loves is melting away in front of him and there is not a dam thing he can do about it." owen's eyes looked sad. Cristina reached for his neck and cuddled into him, as much to comfort him as to prove she was still there.

"i just don't know what I would do if I lost you Cristina. I couldn't breathe without you." Owen squeezed her tighter.

These words, that she had said to him years earlier, melted her heart. He didn't want to loose her! Not in a possessive way, like Burke but because he loved her for who she was.

Sitting up and manoeuvring herself around so she was sitting between his legs facing him, she took his face in both her hands, started intently into those warm blue eyes and declared "I am not going anywhere! Owen, I am not going anywhere without you."

Owen closed his eyes and nodded slowly. He gazed up into her brown eyes and kissed her slowly, gently, telling her how much he loved her.

As they broke away, their hands skimming over each others bodies, Cristina placed her hands square on his shoulders and fixed him with a serious expression.

"Owen, go and get the cereal!"

Dropping a kiss on her forehead as he chuckled to himself and hauled himself out of the water.

Watching her husbands naked form saunter into the kitchen, Cristina mumbled, "hot!" and sunk back in to the glistening water to enjoy the rest of the evening with her family. 


	10. Chapter 10

"Owen! Get up!" Cristina stood over her husbands sleeping form and shook him vigourously. "Owen!"

"Mmmmmmmm...what's the matter?" Owen burrows his head deeper into the pillow.

"we have to go! Come on!" Cristina frantically scurried behind the bed and threw back the drapes, bathing the firehouse in early morning sunlight.

Owen squinted and held his hand up to shield his eyes, "What time is it? Where are we going?"

"8am, come on! This is the one day off we have had together in weeks, we have to go Owen." Cristina pulled back the duvet, leaving Owen totally exposed except for a pair of black boxer shorts. She had to keep her resolve! As much as she wanted to dive into bed with him and spend the day making love and lying in his arms, they had to do this today!

Owen pulled himself up to a sitting position and tucked his legs under him. He took in the view of his gorgeous wife standing by the side of the bed. She was wearing a pair of blue shorts, which showed off her shapely legs, and a red vest, which stretched over her baby bump, tightly encasing his baby in it's soft cotton. Her hair was hanging loosely over her shoulders and the sunlight bounced off the diamond in the icicle necklace that hung around her long, thin neck. He wanted her! He reached out his arms to pull her towards him with a seductive raise of his eyebrows.

Cristina was wise to the look on his face, she slid sideways to avoid his arms. "get up! Get dressed and let's go!" she turned on her heels and walked into the living room to find her flip flops and handbag.

Owen sighed, completely confused, and reluctantly got off the bed and went to take a cold shower.

Fifteen minutes later, Owen emerged into the living room, dressed in a pair of camouflage shorts, a tight dark green t shirt and a pair of flip flops. Before he could open his mouth to ask where they were going, Cristina has flung the car keys at him and started off down the stairs. Rolling his eyes, Owen thought to himself, you survived a war, Hunt! Just go with it!

"Are you going to tell me where I need to drive to?" Owen asked as he pulled his truck out of the underground car park.

"we are going to Baby & Beyond." Cristina looked across to the driver's seat to see a blank look on her husbands face. "the high end baby store in town. Owen get with it! We have 10 weeks till this tiny human invades and moves into our house and we have no stuff!"

His wife was freaking out! She was shrieking and ranting! He knew what he had to do.

"Cristina," he soothed. "we will get everything we need today, ok?" he heard her exhale a deep breath. "ok?" moving one hand off the steering wheel he momentarily squeezed her hand for reassurance.

"alright! I hope you bought your credit cards!"

Owen laughed. "yes! Yes, I did!"

Parking up the truck in front of the store, Owen helped Cristina onto the pavement. Slipping his hand through her's they began to walk towards the entrance. As the door slid open and the strains of nursery rhymes danced into the air, Cristina froze.

"we are having a baby!" Cristina emphasised each word slowly.

"I know." Owen was puzzled.

"it is just very real, all of a sudden." Cristina turned to Owen and bit her lip. "Owen, I can do this right?"

Pulling his wife into a hug, resting his chin on her head, he let a small smile creep across his lips as he told her "you will be excellent."

With one last squeeze before they broke apart, Owen tucked his wife under his arm and led her into the shop.

They had been browsing up and down the aisle for a while, when a perky sales girl who looked about 16 approached them.

"oh man!" Cristina muttered under her breath and rolled her eyes skyward. This was a time when she had to talk girl, not be clinical. Cristina drifted off into her own thought momentarily. She found talking girl exhausting! If this baby was a boy it would be so much easier, but a girl with Owen's red hair and blue eyes would be cute! The grating voice of the sales girl snapped her back to the here and now.

"hello mummy and daddy!" singsonged the sales girl. "what can we get for your little one today?"

Owen, sensing Cristina's disgust at the greeting, plastered a beaming smile on his face and replied " we need everything!"

"ok then! Let's get your baby everything! Follow me!" leading them first to the bedroom furniture and then up and down the rows and rows and shelves and shelves of things that babies needed. Owen thought to himself, I hope this baby is not as messy as their mother!

About 2 hours later Owen and Cristina had chosen a mahogany cot, wardrobe, changing table, a baby bath, stair gates, car seats, a mobile with little ducks on (to Cristina's disgust they didn't make one with scalpels!) and a very expensive bugaboo stroller that Cristina said they could not do without! Everything else they had put onto a gift list ready for the baby shower that Meredith was insisting on throwing next week. As Owen was paying the bill, Cristina made a mental note to talk to Meredith about this shower- she didn't want any girly crap and Owen was definitely coming! If she had to endure it so did he.

Cristina wandered away from the counter and busied herself looking at the racks of tiny clothes. A flutter of excitement came over her as she thought about Owen cradling their baby on his bare chest. She knew he was going to be an amazing, loving father. "you don't know how lucky you are." she traced an O over her bump with the finger that carried her wedding ring. " your Daddy is going to be the most important man in your life. I hope you get to keep him for a long time." thoughts of her own father rose up in her chest and she squeezed the bridge of her nose to stop the tears falling. Sniffing and shaking her head quickly to push the thoughts out she saw her husband walking towards the exit. She caught up with him and tapped his shoulder to get his attention.

"there you are." Owen had a small paper carrier bag in his hand which he held out to her. " this is for you."

Taking the bag she held onto it until she was seated back in the truck. Peering through the yellow tissue paper that lined the inside, she saw a flash of White material. She reached in and pulled out a tiny t shirt. She turned it over in her hands and when she saw the motive she giggled.

On the t shirt, that looked so small it could fit a doll, it said I heart my mummy. But instead of the red cartoon heart she expected to see was a perfect outline of a human heart!

"thank you, I love it." she stretched across and pecked a kiss on his lips.

Owen snaked an arm round her waist, "now, what do you want to do for the rest of our one day off together?" Owen asked saucily in between planting kisses on her lips, cheek and neck.

"I will spend the rest of the day doing whatever my husband wants!" Cristina giggled.

Turning the keys in the ignition, the motor kicked in, just like Owen's libido and he drove home as fast as was legally possible!

As soon as the car came to a standstill in the drive, Owen jumped out of the car, lifted Cristina out and quickly carried her up the stairs into their firehouse and headed straight for the bed. He deposited her down in the middle, threw himself down next to her on his side and pulled her down In to his arms.

"I love you, Cristina Yang. Let's just lay here for a while." Owen reached out and rubbed her stomach and the baby shifted it's position against his hand.

Owen's eyes widened in delight. "I haven't forgotten you, love you too!" he told the baby, moving his ear to rest against her stomach.

Cristina smiled and rested back against the pillows. Owen adjusted himself into the familiar position so he was lying in her lap.

Cristina thought to herself that she could actually get used to more days off with her husband! She was a simple girl after all!

this was perfect! He was perfect, she was perfect, having their baby was perfect. 


	11. Chapter 11 the baby shower

"owwww! That hurt! What the f..." Cristina was leaning on the nurses station, filling in a patient chat, when she felt someone tugging hard on her ponytail. Spinning round, ready to give whoever it was what for, she was stopped in her tracks by the sight in front of her.

A questioning look broke over Cristina's face as she saw her husband cradling her god daughter Zola. The big brown eyes of the child lit up when she saw Cristina briefly smile at her, her chubby hand still clenched in the fist that had been yanked out of Cristina's hair when she had turned around.

"What are you doing with her?" Cristina enquired as Zola popped her thumb in her mouth and snuggled back against Owen's shoulder. Subconsciously Owen began to sway side to side, rocking the little girl in a gentle rhythm. Zola cooed quietly in his arms.

"Meredith is getting stuff ready for tonight and Zola was making more mess than actually helping. So she asked me, as she knew tour shift was ending, if we could keep Zola and bring her over with us later. All her stuff is in my office."

Cristina groaned. The baby shower she did not even want was tonight! Meredith had insisted that they were doing it, so Cristina set some ground rules. The hospitals men were to attend as well, she did not want an oestrogen fest. She had also banned Lexie from any involvement in the planning, she did not want anything cute or girly- no balloons, no scrapbook station and absolutely no glitter pens!

"she likes you!" Cristina observed, moving closer to this sweet pairing. She reached out her arms and snaked one around Owen's waist and placed the other hand on Zola's back. I am going to have to get used to him not always being able to hug me back when the baby comes. She thought to herself with a mixture of excitement and sadness. I am going to have to share him!

"she has good taste!" Owen smirked and dropped a kiss on the forehead of his wife. Owen's pager beeped into action, forcing Zola to bolt upright in his arms, her eyes wide in shock.

"it's ok honey" Cristina soothed, in the singsong voice people use around babies, taking Zola's hand in her's. The baby gripped her finger and Cristina was taken aback at how this tiny gesture felt so comfortable. "uncle Owen needs to go and do some of his special magic, but you and me are going to go and prepare ourselves for an evening of hell!

Owen smiled at how natural his wife was with this little girl who had become part of their lives so quickly. He could not wait until their baby arrived and he got to see her like this everyday.

"see you both at 6pm, ready for a fun shower!" Owen spoke these words teasingly against Cristina's lips as he kissed her goodbye.

"the only fun shower are ones that involve you naked. Not onesies and breasts pumps!" she quipped after his retreating figure.

"ok!" Owen agreed as he popped his head back around the corner with a wiggle of his eyebrows.

Shaking her head smiling, Cristina turned her face to Zola and said "come on let's go and make some mischief in uncle Owen's office!". As if she totally understood what her godmother had said Zola giggled and bounced in Cristina's arms. Walking down the corridor Cristina instinctively cuddled the little girl closer to her heart.

After getting changed into her black maternity jeans, a black and purple vest and a purple cardigan, Cristina sat at Owen's desk flipping through his presentation for the medical conference waiting for him to finish in surgery. Zola was strapped into her stroller, chewing on a plastic toy.

"ready to go?" Owen stuck his head around the door of his office, his body not daring to cross the threshold as he knew Cristina would try to engage him in some diversionary tactics to avoid leaving.

"are you sure we have too?" Cristina whined. " we could drop Zola on the doorstep and knock and run!"

"we are going! Think of the gifts!" Owen gestured for Cristina to bring Zola outside the room.

"you drive a hard bargain Dr Hunt!" Cristina moaned as she pushed Zola's stroller through the doorway.

"yes I do!" Owen murmured as he dropped little kisses down her neck.

"Down boy! That is what got us into the mess in the first place!"

it was a clear, warm night, one of the 5 Seattle gets all year, so they decided to walk the 7 blocks from the hospital to Meredith's house. Owen pushed Zola with one hand and held Cristina's hand with the other. They walked in easy silence and Cristina mused that this actually felt nice- the husband and baby thing. She was a simple girl after all, who knew!

As they walked Owen felt totally content. When he had been out in the desert he never dared to hope he would make it home and now the home he had made in Cristina was everything to him. It had pulled him out of the darkness, fixed him and now he was more than the son who went off to war. He was the husband and father who was loved and needed. She had made him whole again and given him the huge life he thought Iraq had stolen away. Owen pulled Cristina under his arm and kissed the top of her head.

"what was that for?" Cristina asked as she tucked herself tighter against his chest.

"I just love you." Owen's voice was muffled by her thick curls.

They turned into Meredith's driveway and Cristina stretched over to press the bell. Owen whispered nervously in her ear as she stood crossed armed next to him waiting for the door to open.

"Cristina whatever is behind this door had nothing to do with me!"

The door was flung open.

"Happy baby shower!" everyone was popping streamers and tossing pink and blue balloons in the air as Cristina and Owen stepped through the door. Zola burst into tears! Callie rushed forward and took her from Cristina's arms before she dropped her. Owen and Cristina stood frozen, their eyes darting around the room taking in every detail. aside from the streamers and balloons Cristina saw a table with Polaroid cameras, onesies, scrapbooks and GLITTER PENS!

Owen braced himself for Cristina's reaction. Feeling her take in a huge breath, here it comes he thought to himself. Remember, hunt you survived a war, this is just a baby shower!

"Meredith..." Cristina's tone was low and dark.

Sensing a twisted sisters blow up, the guests started to edge away towards the kitchen. Lexie, fearing the worst grabbed a large bowl of jelly babies and began stuffing handfuls into her mouth. She knew Cristina would be gunning for her next.

Over the tops of their wives heads, Owen and Derek eyed each other nervously.

"beer?" Derek mouthed silently with an incline of his head towards the kitchen.

"oh yeah" Owen mouthed back nodding vigorously.

Both men started to inch away from their wives, but the women were too quick for them. Like ninjas they shot out their arms and grabbed their husbands by the wrists, tightening their grips and anchoring them to the spot.

"it looks like Barbie and ken threw up in here!" Cristina hissed.

"I may have let Lexie help" Meredith wheedled "just a little bit."

"I knew it" Cristina spat "just give me the gifts! I am going home!"

"no, no you are not! Just let me fix this. Ok?" Meredith sprang into action. "Owen, take Cristina into the kitchen, get some drinks and go out into the backyard."  
>As if taking an order from a commanding officer, Owen frog marched his wife towards the kitchen. Cristina grumbling about not being listened to all the way<p>

"you!" pushing Derek towards the living room. "go and get Zola's toys and play mat and take them and her into the backyard too!" laughing at his wife's panic Derek made towards Callie and took his daughter upstairs to find the toys.

Everyone was looking around nervously. "Ok, no time for just standing let's go." Screeched Meredith. "Lexie put down the jelly babies and stop crying...Jackson, Alex burst all these balloons...Mark take all the gifts out into the garden...Callie, Arizona April drinks, food outside now!...Teddy take the cameras...Dr Bailey (she still could not call her once resident Miranda) pillows, blankets...and Chief...kill the glitter pens."

After a momentary pause to take in what Meredith was saying, they sprang into action. 15 commotion filled minutes later the house looked like there had never been any signs of a baby shower there and everyone was sitting on pillows and blankets under the stars and fairy lights in the garden some drinking beer, some ginger beer, watching Owen and Cristina unwrap presents.

Sitting next to Owen amongst a pile of gifts- which included a breast pump, diaper service, activity gym, soft toys in varying sizes, Seahawks, Harvard and Stanford jerseys and an anatomy Jane-Cristina began to relax, this was more a shower she could tolerate. There had been the usual jokes about her not being maternal on any way and Owen had been called "Mr. mommy" a few times by Mark and Derek, but it was all in good humour. Owen believes I can do this! I trust him! Cristina told herself silently.

"thank you all." Cristina looked around at the people she had come to consider her family over the past 7 years and felt strangely moved that they were all here tonight to celebrate this unexpected twist in her life. Blinking back tears, she still had to be nothing but hardcore to them, "now, enough baby stuff, this is supposed to be a party! Which around here means drinking lots of tequila and dancing on tables! "

A little while later the party was in full swing, Callie, Arizona and Teddy were dancing madly in the middle of the garden, the chief, Alex and Jackson were playing poker and April and Lexie were engaged in drunken girl conversation.

Cristina had barely spent anytime with Owen, he was too busy chatting and joking with everyone, enjoying the attentions being an expectant father bought. Smiling at the fun being had at her baby shower, Cristina wandered inside to make herself the coffee she had been craving for the last hour. Thinking to herself with amusement, I am so soft core!

"your husband certainly has a way with the tiny ladies." Meredith came in to the kitchen to have a few quiet moments with her best friend. "Zola can't get enough of him."

Peering through the low kitchen window, Cristina took in the scene. Zola was sitting on her activity mat flapping her arms up at Owen to be picked up. Owen bent down and scooped her up in his arms. As soon as she was at chest height, Zola wrapped her chubby arms around his neck and rested her chin on his shoulder. Instinctively Owen began to rub her back and rock her gently, all the while continuing his conversation about the Seahawks with Mark and Derek. Zola's eyes began to droop closed and in a sleepy gesture one hand made it's way to hold onto Owen's ear and the other moved to her mouth and she sucked her thumb hungrily.

"our baby is so going to like him best." Cristina sighed. Deep down, seeing how wonderful he was with Zola made her feel proud. She was happy that Meredith could finally see that he was a good man.

"no they won't!" Meredith laughed as she took the chair on the opposite side of the table.

"I never thought you and I would be sitting here talking about husbands and babies. This is all very grown up!"

"I am glad you changed your mind." Meredith said quietly. The best friends had not talked about the abortion issue since Cristina had told her she didn't go through with it. Meredith had been worried about her reasoning but did not know how to talk about it with her "you did do it for you though right? Not just for Owen?"

"no! You don't get to do this now!" Cristina shook her head and made to get up from her chair.

"yes I do!" Meredith's defiant tone made Cristina stop in her tracks. "Derek and Zola are the loves of my life but you are still my soul mate. I need to hear you say you are doing this for the right reasons!"

"of course I am doing it for Owen, I love him and he wants this so much." as Cristina uttered the last words Meredith made to interject but Cristina held up a finger to silence her as she continued, "but I do want this a baby too. I do! I never would have with anyone else, you know that you were there...last time." Cristina's words stopped flowing and she stared down at the table top.

Meredith reached across the table and took Cristina's hand in hers. She squeezed it willing her person to continue.

"I just didn't know how to want something I never thought I wanted you know?" Meredith nodded, she got it, other people did not get the twisted sisters coded way of speaking but she knew exactly what Cristina meant. "I am terrified of loosing it all and being alone gain but life without risk is not really living, right?"

"right!" Meredith agreed as the best friends grinned at each other. "you have changed! I love you Cristina Yang. I'm going to hug you now."

Laughing out loud, Cristina stood up and held her arms open for Meredith to fall into.

As the complicated women stood hugging each other tight in the kitchen, their less complicated husbands stood in the doorway looking on.

"you'd better hope that baby is a boy Hunt or we will be here in 20 years time watching the twisted sisters Mark 2!" Derek laughed lightly as he turned to Owen who was still cradling Zola, even though she was now awake.

"boy or girl, I think the twisted sisters are going to have heirs to the throne of dark and twisty!" Owen clapped Shepherd on the back on a gesture of playful commiseration, chuckling quietly.

Zola giggled, screwing up her face, as if the thought of having her very own "Cristina" was the best idea in the whole world. 


	12. Chapter 12 the birthing class

The elevator door slid open and Cristina heavily dragged her feet and her 7 month old baby bump towards the physiotherapy suite where the birthing class was being held.

Still dressed in her scrubs from finishing her shift moments earlier, she pulled her phone put of her pocket and furiously hit the keys to message her husband:

You had better be up here already or on your way!

There had been some heated words the previous night while they had been cooking dinner. Cristina did not see why she needed to go to a class to learn how to breathe or the mechanics of birth! They were both doctors! If she did 't know this stuff well the medical board better revoke her licence! Owen had argued that it was part of the process for new parents and that neither of them knew what to expect as they had never actively participated in a birth before.

Cristina had finally conceded defeat and reluctantly agreed when Owen had switched to a More hands on form of persuasion that had led to some very hormonal sex on the kitchen floor, after some very hot sex on the kitchen counter, which happened after some intense foreplay up against the fridge. Dinner had eventually been a takeout pizza after Owen had cleaned up the kitchen, which was shell shocked from the sexual battle it had hosted.

Walking down the corridor Remembering the touch of her husband's hands on her skin caused Cristina to shiver with excitement. Shaking the feelings of arousal that threatened to send her running to find Owen and drag him into an on call room, she turned the handle, pushed the door and was greeted by the sight that her worst nightmares were full of- a room full of smiling, pregnant women giggling and talking about babies!

"oh god! It's like the step ford wives on acid!" Cristina muttered to herself as a Very blonde woman with a name tag that read Vanessa came bounding towards her like an over excited springer spaniel.

"hello there mummy!" Vanessa's voice reminded Cristina of Her chief resident, April's voice- annoying, perky and grating! "and who are you?"

"dr Cristina yang." Cristina was sure to put the emphasis on the Dr part, wanting Vanessa to know she was not one of these women with zero ambition who was content to pop out babies and wait for her husband to come home from the office!

Handing Cristina a name tag with just her first name on it, Vanessa appeared unmoved by her medical status. Cristina was fighting every urge to leave this ridiculous situation and just go home to watch her surgical DVDs.

"ok, Cristina?" Vanessa enquired. Snapping back into the here and now, Cristina realised she had not taken in a word the annoying woman had just said.

"sorry I was miles away!" Cristina gave her a forced, fake smile.

Vanessa did not notice that Cristina was completely uninterested in what she and missed her say. She brightly began to repeat herself, "go and grab yourself a yoga mat, we will be starting in a couple of minutes. Will Daddy be joining us?"

He'd better be! She thought to herself behind the fake smile. "he will be here any minute now!" Cristina singsonged back and with a final pull on her mouth to widen the inane grin that had now settled there she turned and maneuvered herself down onto the mat nearest the exit. Once again pulling out her phone she stabbed the keys with venom.

Where the hell are you? Send to husband.

5 minutes later and having ignored his phone buzzing in his scrubs pocket, Owen burst through the door, panting slightly at having run all the way up 12 flights of stairs from the pit.

"sorry I'm late." he directed his apology to the blonde woman standing at the front of the assembled class. He gestured towards the name tags she was holding "I am Dr Hunt. I got caught up with some incoming trauma victims in the ER."

"quite the White knight aren't you Dr Hunt!" Vanessa giggled, placing a hand flirtatiously on his muscular forearm, blushing at the sight of this extremely attractive head of trauma in navy blue scrubs. "I am Vanessa."

Owen smiled quickly and shifted uncomfortably on the spot. He was always aware when women flirted with him, but being a gentleman he tried to stay polite. He couldn't care less which women thought he was attractive the only one who mattered was the one who had agreed to spend her life with him. The formidable mixture of beauty, brains and drive that lied in the tiny body that fitted so perfectly with his. As he mused on how lucky he was, He could feel his wife's eyes boring into him, even though he had yet to locate where in the room she was.

Cristina eyed the scene with growing disgust from her seated position on her yoga mat. A lot of women found her husband attractive and she normally found it flattering but being 7 months pregnant and the size of a small sumo wrestler left her feeling a little insecure. This was not something she would ever admit to Owen, or anyone else for that matter, but it was an uneasy feeling to be sitting with at this precise moment.

"when you have finished flirting with my husband Vanessa do you think we could get this, I am sure, very valuable and insightful class underway." Cristina's tone dripped with sarcasm and snapping his head round to catch sight of his wife for the first time since he had entered the room Owen saw the fire in his wife's eyes. He immediately strode over and took up his place on the floor behind her and pulled her in between his legs. Cristina took his hands in her's and deliberately dug her nails into his knuckles. Owen knew in that gesture that he was going to be doing some making up when they got home- making up for being late and for being flirted with. Hunt you survived a war! This is just a birthing class!

Following the voice that was the lucky owner of this beautiful man, Vanessa locked eyes with Cristina and felt her cheeks burning red. Clearing her throat nervously she plastered on a smile and putting on her teaching voice breezily addressed the assembled class, "ok mummy's and daddy's let's start thinking about our breathing exercises!"

"you are taking all this way to seriously." Cristina admonished Owen as she turned around to see him with his eyes closed following the breathing exercise Vanessa's irritating voice was guiding the group through. Looking round the room she noted she was the only one not doing exactly what Owen was doing. Raising her eyes skyward she sighed and undertook a couple of counted breathes, just so she could say she participated.

"lovely! Well done mummy's and daddy's!" Cristina gritted her teeth as Vanessa's voice filled the room.

"can we go now, I know how too breathe." she hissed under her breathe to Owen.

placing his lips on his wife's ear, Owen huskily informed her "no, just finish the class the. I promise I will show you exactly how pant when we get home!"

Cristina immediately felt heat in her whole body. Forgetting where they were, she turned her head towards Owens's face and gently caught his lips in hers. "you're so on!" she whispered against his beard.

Placing his hands on her shoulders, Owen squared Cristina back to face Vanessa who was fiddling with the projector trying to get a birthing DVD started.

"Go and help her. Looks like she needs a White knight!" Cristina smirked as she dug her husband in the ribs.

Chuckling to himself he got up and made his way to the front of the group.

A busy chatter settled amongst the group as they waited. Cristina, leaning her chin in her hands, drunk in the view of her husband bending forwards over the table fiddling with the remote. It took her back to their first meeting as she watched him bent over the patient with a pen in his throat as he ran the gurney into the ER. "HOT!" she said loud enough for her to hear. Well coming to the class was worth it for this view. She thought as she shifted position.

"Thank you Dr Hunt!" Vanessa gazed at Owen's retreating figure as he went back to sit behind his wife. Cristina subconsciously snuggled her back closer into Owen's chest as he wrapped around her, marking her territory from what she saw as an idle threat.

"now just sit back class and enjoy the journey of birth!" suddenly the lights were dimmed and some whale music accompanied the sight of a naked birthing mother, in what looked like a large paddling pool, panting and chanting along with her husband who frankly looked ridiculous mirroring his wife's actions in the pool with her.

"do not get any ideas!" Cristina frankly stated, loud enough for Owen to hear and scoff into her hair.

"imagine your vagina opening like a flower." the midwife in the video cooed as the mother slid deeper into the paddling pool.

Cristina sat wide eyed, staring at the screen.

"Owen."

Cristina's low tone said all he needed to know. Hitting the alarm test button on his pager discreetly in his pocket it jumped onto action.

BEEP...BEEP.

"I'm so sorry Vanessa." Owen wheedled, jumping to his feet and pulling his wife up after him "multiple traumas in the pit, we are needed."

"of course DR Hunt." Vanessa nodded to show she understood the responsibility of his position. It was quite a turn on as a matter of fact!

As Cristina made to follow Owen out of the room, she fought hard to suppress the laughter that was threatening to come out. "so sorry. I have a feeling we were just getting to the good bit!"

Vanessa forced a smile. How did this sarcastic, frankly rude woman have such a beautiful gentleman for a husband!

Once they were in the elevator down to the surgical floor so they could both get changed to go home, Owen and Cristina collapsed into a fit of hysterical laughter.

"imagine your vagina opening like a flower." Cristina mimicked the voice from the video. "you do know that I want every drug this hospital has to pop your kid out right?"

"whatever you want darling." Owen pulled his wife towards him. "I do think though we had better practice the breathing, just in case."

As the last words in that sentence rolled off his Tongue, Owen had began to trace a familiar path of kisses down his wife's neck as his hands reached for the tie on the waistband of her scrub pants.

"well we have 6 floors Dr Hunt." her hands wrapped around his waist pulling him closer, as his hand moved up into her hair. "and you know I can't breathe without you."

Smiling against her neck, Owen murmured, "well I had better do something special to help you practice panting!"  
>TO BE CONTINUED... <p>


	13. Chapter 13 the elevator

Smiling against her neck, Owen murmured, "well I had better do something special to help you practice panting!"

Forcing his wife back against the elevator wall, he crashed his lips to hers, kissing her fiercely with a mix of longing and explosive passion. Gripping her arms around his neck, she ran her fingers up into his hair and lost her mouth completely in his. His kiss could still make her knees weak and make her heart skip a beat.

Their tongues explored each others, his lips sucked on her bottom lip as their hands made a frenzied journey across every inch of each others body. The friction of their scrubs on their skin heightening the sensations of desire they were both feeling. Had they been on an on call room they would have both been naked by now.

"what if someone wants to take the elevator?" Cristina murmured between kisses, half heartedly trying to push Owen backwards. Owen's raw strength and determination were too much for her, so she gave in and allowed him to take whatever he wanted.

The elevator moved down through the 11th floor.

"So?" Forcing himself to tear his lips away, Owen gazed at his wife standing panting gently in front of him as he pushed her scrub pants and thong down over her hips. Owen let a smile take over his face as he thought about the panting they had been learning about minutes earlier in the birthing class.

That one word got her every time! And every time took her right back to the moment she had first seen him- that huge manly body in that US army uniform- hot! Shame he couldn't have kept it! When he had looked at her, coming out of that ambulance, she had felt like an invisible tether had tied her to him. She was his! Cristina wiggled slightly to guide the clothes down to her ankles leaving her lower half totally open for what her husband had planned. naked apart from the thin strip of pubic hair left from the wax she had yesterday. See, my meticulous planning always comes in useful! She thought to herself smugly.

"Quick and dirty! I will come back later and make everything pretty!" Owen growled as he slid down her body, kneeling in front of her. His promise of both immediate ecstasy and later seduction sent her nerve endings into free fall He traced "O's" up the back of her legs and onto her ass, as if marking her out as his territory. He squeezed her ass possessively as he pulled her towards him.

The elevator moved down to the 10th floor

Cristina let out a low moan of pleasure and fought the urge to take control. She wanted him so badly, she always wanted him so badly, pregnancy had only heightened an entirely pleasurable addiction to her husband.

"Spread your legs!" Owen commanded in a voice she always thought of as his major voice. She was the women who hated to take orders, the leader not the follower but for this man she would follow him anywhere.

Cristina often thought about Owen commanding his platoon in the deserts of Iraq. She imagined his young soldiers looking up to him like George had before he died. The fact that he was a war hero only heightened her desires for him. She guessed she was the simple girl after all- just waiting to be rescued by the big, manly hero, waiting to be swept off her feet. And Owen had done that he had literally rescued her and saved her from the icicle. But more than that he had rescued her emotionally- he thawed her out and forced her heart to beat in rhythm with his so it could take in all the love he gave her and love him, back just as totally. They had fought the war to be together, a long ranging battle on many fronts with many foes. They had fought the war and won. Maybe not a purple heart but each others.

As these images of her husband and their shared stories swirled around in her subconscious, she took the order and slid her feet to shoulders width apart. She felt butterflies in her stomach, she closed her eyes and dropped her head back in relaxed anticipation.

She did not have to wait long!

The elevator continued it's decent... Floor nine...floor 8.

Dispensing with the foreplay entirely, Owen thrust his face into Cristina's warmth and bit down Into her clit.

Cristina gasped in exquisite pain and pounded her hands to the wall to anchor herself, as her husband once again swept her near off her feet.

The sound of her pleasure in his ears spurred Owen on. Quickening the pace and letting his tongue join the party he began to lap at the folds and crevices of the part of his wife reserved entirely for him. He felt a tightening in his own groin as he thought of the things he wanted to do to and with her when he took her back to their bed. He craved and loved this woman every minute of every day. He had promised her 40 years but an eternity would not be enough time spent with her.

Floor seven- the elevator continued downwards.

"I love you!" Cristina gasped again as Owen returned his version of those 3 words in this moment. He plunged 3 fingers deep inside her, feeling her wet, hot juices envelop each digit, claiming them as her's. He thrust them into her hard and fast. Cristina's body responded as he felt her tightening. He knew she was not far away from letting go.

"mmmmm...oooooh...yes!" Cristina moaned and screamed with abandon, not caring of anyone on the other aide of the elevator doors could hear her. This, right here, was their bubble. The rest of the world fell away as she let her husband pull her closer and closer to the edge.

As the elevator continued it's final decent towards the surgical floor Cristina's body began to rush towards a heady climax.

"cum for me baby...cum for me...let me taste you!" Owen spoke huskily never losing contact with her clit. The vibration of his deep baritone between her legs sent shockwaves through her body. Like an animal devouring it's prey for fear of being discovered, Owen bit, licked and sucked on his wife's throbbing swollen clit causing her to pant in fast, shallow breaths.

"Owen...Owen...OWEN!" she screamed his name and pulled his head further into her warmth, anchoring it there while she shuddered releasing absolutely everything she had, everything she felt for this man.

Owen nipped at her clit with the softest kisses as Cristina gasped and fought her way down from her intense orgasm. He rocked back on to his heels, fixed her with a wickedly seductive face and slowly licked her scent off his fingers.

"you are evil. You are the devil!" Cristina bit her lip to stop herself flying at him, she was so turned on if she wasn't pregnant she would be getting him naked and straddling him right there on the elevator floor.

"so?" Owen looked at her like a little boy trying to appear innocent when he had been caught stealing cookies from the jar. An image of a mina tire version of Owen danced across the space between them making her reach out to caress his cheek with her hand. Owen leaned into her palm and kissed it.

The lights above them flashed 6.

As he quickly rose to his feet, Owen pulled up her underwear and scrub pants and tied them back under he swelling belly. Before he finally rose to a standing position he dropped a trail of kisses on their baby bump.

"time to get off." Owen laughed lightly as he kissed Cristina's cheek, as she adjusted herself to ensure she was presentable.

Screwing up her nose as his beard tickled her, she giggled "I just did!"

"be quick changing. Tonight I want to bury myself in you!" Owen whispered directly into her ear moments before...

PING!

The doors opened and with a gentle brush of the backs of their hands, the couple turned opposite ways to their respective locker rooms to get ready to go home together.

As she walked, or as she thought waddled, towards the residents locker room, desperate to get home, Cristina grinned as she thought that she could finally get on board with trauma surgery. After all there were definite benefits of quick and dirty! 


	14. Chapter 14

Owen was sitting, huddled on the bench waiting, when Cristina finally emerged from the hospital wrapped up in a thick winter coat. He had changed quickly, desperate to get home and continue what they started in the elevator. He could still taste his wife on his lips, which did little to hold down the intense longing both to just see and hold her and to make love to her.

The first flakes of winter snow had begun to fall, coating Seattle in its icy embrace. Owen held his open palm out and watched the frozen drops connect with his skin and dissolve into little pools of glistening water. It reminded him of how Cristina's warmth had dissolved his nightmares, how her love in the now had covered the pain in his before and how they were on the verge of taking their first footsteps into the huge life that lay unspoilt in front of them.

Catching sight of her husband, Cristina hurried over and dropped a kiss on the top of his head. Owen tilted his head back contentedly and nipped affectionately at her chin.

"You ready to go home?" she asked and then kissed his forehead. Cristina loved the fact that at the end of whatever the work day had bought, good or bad, they got to go home together. The firehouse was the one place she could show all sides of herself without fear of judgment or question. Owen just got her- he understood her competitive hunger for surgery, he calmed her fears of not being excellent and encouraged her to reach for her deepest dreams even before she had dreamt them. She had always been fascinated by hearts and she was lucky that hers had chosen to beat only for him.

"Alright." Owen smiled as he rose from the bench, took her frozen hand in his and put them both in his pocket. They walked to the truck in silence both thinking about how much they loved married happy them.

The short drive home was filled with easy chat about their days and flirtatious musing about their elevator encounter. Pulling up the handbrake Owen jumped out and made his way round to help his precious passengers climb down.

"Not long till we will be opening the back door to bring our baby home for the first time." Owen smiled into the side of Cristina's head as she tucked into the familiar space under his arm and they began walking.

Placing a protective hand on her stomach, it had become such a natural gesture she really thought nothing of it anymore, Cristina squeezed herself a little tighter against her husband, "I know! A little piece of you and me."

Stepping into the warmth of the firehouse, Owen hung up their coats and strode purposefully towards the kitchen.

"You go take a bath while I fix us some dinner." He was already pulling plates and pans out of the cupboards.

"I won't be long." she called out over her shoulder as she dropped a trail of clothes in her wake from the kitchen to the bathroom.

"Take your time." Owen countered as he picked up the clothes she had shed haphazardly and tossed them into the washing machine. His wife's messiness drove him crazy, his military side liked order, but he loved her so much he could forgive her anything. He imagined a miniature version of his beautiful Cristina dropping toys and crayons all over his beloved firehouse or a miniature version of himself playfully telling his mummy off for being messy. Either would be perfect!

Cristina wallowed in their oversized bath until the water cooled from scalding hot to lukewarm. She pulled the plug out, letting the water drain away, taking with it the stresses of the surgical day, before she hauled her heavy body out on to the tiled floor. Drying herself off with a fluffy grey bath sheet, she unhooked Owen's navy blue dressing gown from the back of the door and wrapped it around her. She breathed in his intoxicating scent which clung to the material and rubbed her face against it. She loved wearing his clothes; it made her feel close to him even when he was there next to her. She really couldn't bear any distance between them, physically or emotionally. That week she had been at Meredith's had felt akin to the worst trauma injury she could imagine. It had been like she had been gasping for air, the ache in her body for his warmth so actue she imagined that it might be what death felt like. Finding her way home to him had kick started her system, like the charge of the defibrilator shocking her system back in step with his. Shaking off the memories, she pulled a brush through her hair and swapped the scent of her husband for the sweet smell of bacon.

Hearing the gurgle of the water running down the plughole, Owen straightened the duvet and sat down, cross legged on the bed.

Pulling open the bathroom door Cristina walked into the bedroom, scrapping her wet hair up into a messy pile on top of her head and securing it loosely in an elastic band.

The first thing she noticed was her husband, sitting on their bed in a pair of army green boxers, no shirt. Then her eyes reluctantly panned down to what was on the duvet in front of him. She felt tears prickling the backs of her eyes as she took in the bacon sandwiches, the large bowl of strawberries and the wine glasses filled with her latest craving of apple juice sitting on a tray in front of him. Her husband made her fall in love with him all over again every time he offered her these sweet gestures. It amazed her how he could want to do all this for her after a long day in the pit. She felt guilty- she made him eat cereal out of the box and her idea of preparing a meal for him was ordering in. She made a mental note to really cook for him when she was on maternity leave, how hard could it be when you had all day!

"You didn't have to go to all this trouble." Cristina gestured at the food and smiled apologetically as he offered a hand to help his wife and child onto the bed to sit opposite him.

"Nothing is too much trouble for you two." Owen smiled, offering her the plate with the hot bacon sandwich on.

Curling her legs underneath her and getting comfortable, she took the plate gratefully, "thanks we're starving!" Taking in a huge bite of the soft bread and steaming hot bacon she relaxed into the process of savouring the delicious food prepared by her equally delicious husband.

They ate in companionable silence, exchanging smiles and loving looks across the bed. When the sandwiches and drinks had been finished, Owen stretched over the side of the bed to place the tray onto the floor, leaving just the strawberries between them.

"You ready for desert." Owen questioned teasingly, his blue eyes dancing with a mischievous look.

Sensing that there was only one answer that her body would allow, Cristina coyly replied with a throaty "maybe!"

Their hands brushed against each other numerous times as they reached into the bowl to devour the juicy red fruit. As they took their time over each bite they were both thinking dirty thoughts about which parts of each others body they wanted to wrap their mouths around.

Holding the last strawberry in his teeth Owen crawled forward and teased her lips with its ripe end. Slowly Cristina moved her lips over the exposed piece of fruit, brushing his beard as she bit down and the juices began to trickle over her tongue. Now their mouths were inches apart with the barrier totally dissolved. Owen inched forwards slowly and grazed her lips so softly it gave her goose bumps. It felt like snowflakes lightly making contact with the city- first came the shock of the ice cold impact but then as the flakes moulded with the forms of its target it merged in a happy union of beauty.

"Owen" Cristina whispered, closing her eyes to fully embrace the sensation.

"No talking, no touching, just kiss me." Owen had moved his grazing lips down her neck and back up again as he told her what he wanted. She had had quick and dirty and she loved quick and dirty but this, this was making things pretty, this was Owen doing his very best work, meticulous in the details of loving her.

Dragging his lips across her cheek, his beard causing a pleasurable friction between them which only acted to heighten the desires dancing over her skin. He began to kiss her beautiful full mouth slowly, all the while wondering how he fought the everyday urges of wanting to kiss her every time he saw her. When they were in the OR together and she spoke to him from behind her surgical mask it was like an aphrodisiac- he could picture her full lips moving into various shapes, as her tongue rolled over the various words to let out her beautiful voice. He often imagined tearing off the mask and silencing her with his kiss so they could speak to each other in the physical language only they shared.

The kiss became deeper but remained slow and sensual. Cristina wanted to feel him, to hold his body in her arms and reached out her hands to run them down his back. Owen caught her wrists and pressed her hands into the mattress. "waaaaaiiit...just wait." He literally forced the words into her open mouth. Gasping slightly at the alert his breath put her body on; she arched her head away from him, offering the soft skin of her long neck as the next plane for him to conquer. He greedily accepted and branded her neck with a searing bite which sent tremors to her very core.

"I have tasted now I want to touch." Owen informed her matter of factly as he reached out onto the bed side table and found his wife's tube of body lotion. Untying the cord of his dressing gown, it really turned him on when she wore his clothes, he crawled up her body leaving a mixture of kisses and bites on her tingling skin. As he advanced Cristina sunk back into the pillows, her naked body waiting impatiently for his hands to claim her once again.

Slowly squeezing the cocoa butter cream into his hands, he seductively rubbed them together and placed them onto the taut skin encasing their child. As he rubbed the lotion in the baby squirmed and kicked, letting their daddy know that they approved. Owen smiled and once Cristina's stomach was shining and slippery he reloaded his hands with lotion and set about catching up the rest of her body.

He massaged the lotion deeply into her feet and lower legs. Cristina wriggled under his touch, enjoying both the tension release it was giving her muscles and the waves of anticipation it stirred between her legs as those large hands and long fingers made a calculated move further up.

Owen ran his oily hands up and down the inside of her thighs in long sweeping motions. At the point where her legs met her core he stopped, teasing her by deliberately massaging back down towards her knee.

"Mmmmmmmm, that feels so good." Cristina moaned as she spread her legs further apart willing him to move his hands back upwards.

"I have only just started." Owen's voice and fingers waltzed back up towards her centre and she felt the coldness of the lotion dangerously close to her clit. She felt herself begin to throb and harden as Owen blew warm air lightly onto it.

"Owen, I love you." Those 3 words were filled with total conviction- she could never desire or need anyone the way she needed him.

His began to blow harder and longer. Cristina's body responded by shivering slightly and she felt herslef begin to dampen.

She waited for him to claim her heat with his mouth. But he didn't! He switched the play!

Decisively pulling her up into a sitting position he began to massage the lotion into her hands, her arms and shoulders. His touch was electric, every nerve in her body was screaming for him to take her right there right now. Owen knew Cristina wanted him inside her; by the way she was biting her lip and tapping her foot in frustration against the mattress. He loved to tease her, to prolong the anticipation, to keep her teetering on the edge for as long as possible. The thoughts of entering her made his groin harden and the corners of Cristina's mouth curled into a knowing smile, as she noted his face react to the growing feelings of arousal her body was stirring up in his. She knew this hurt him as much as it hurt her.

Once again adding more lotion to his hands he ran his fingers along her collar bone and down over the curve of her fuller breasts. He massaged them lightly at first, knowing that her pregnancy had made them even more sensitive than normal, and then took his index finger and traced circles directly on the tips of her nipples. The lubrication of the lotion heightened the absolute ecstasy that flooded her entire body. She arched her back, pushing her breasts harder against his fingers.

"Please don't stop...just keep doing exactly what you are doing!" Cristina begged, running her fingers through his messy red hair and gripping on.

Owen kneaded, caressed and sucked on her nipples until he was about to explode. He could feel his wife's hot wet pussy against his leg and yearned for his cock to be covered in them. Desperately reaching his arms around his wife's waist, "I need you baby. I want you now!"

Pulling her onto his lap he buried his face in her chest as she slid down onto his erect cock. She had never felt him so hard inside her and she had never been so wet. She rocked her hips back and forth in a slow rhythm as she clung onto his shoulders.

Owen anchored her to him with one arm round her waist and the other hand digging into her hip. He lifted his hips and thrust up into her hard and fast. He wanted to fill every part of her.

"Cristina, give it to me!" Owen moaned into her chest. He moved one hand up into her hair and pulled her head down so he could crash his lips to hers. They hungrily tore and each others lips with their teeth and let their tongues invade every inch of their mouths.

Rocking together as a fused being, sweating with need, lust and love they climbed together to the summit.

"OWEN! OWEN!"

"CRISTINA!...CRIS..."

They screamed each others names as Cristina's walls came down clasping his cock in a vice like grip. She shuddered in his arms as he growled and panted into her neck. They broke away and locked eyes, breathing deeply and open mouthed just surrendering to the most intense orgasm they had ever taken from each other. They did not need to say the three words they knew each other felt- their bodies had said it all.

Sliding apart they climbed under the covers and Cristina settled on her side resting her ear directly over the comforting sound of Owen's heartbeat. Like a lullaby she felt herself being lulled to sleep as her eyelids began to droop to a close. She was awake just long enough to hear her gorgeous man tell her he loved her, as he moved even closer to her body and dropped his other hand onto her stomach. He was awake long enough to feel her tiny hand interlock with his on top of their child and to tell him she loved him more. 


	15. Chapter 15 the birth

Cristina was sewing in the donor heart, Jackson was first assist and Teddy was observing her students, thinking to herself, with pride, that they were both excelling in this very difficult operation.

They were at the tricky part of the procedure- connecting the arteries and veins. Any mistake could compromise the blood flow and then this patient, this tiny 7 year old who had fought to survive for 2 years while they waited for a heart, would be back to square one. Cristina was so concentrated, this little girl had to live and she needed the chance to grow into an exceptional woman.

Cristina never really got involved with the patients that ended up on the OR table. They were basically a procedure to her, a series of techniques that she carried out on them. But not this one. This little girl, Anna, had been her patient through her whole pregnancy. Cristina didn't know what it was but she just felt like this little girl was special. She had enjoyed seeing her sweet face on rounds and chatting with her about the baby while she wheeled her to CT or X-ray. She had especially found it sweet when they had met Owen in the hallway and Anna, knowing he was Dr Yang's husband, had gone all giggly and shy when he had bent down talk to her about the doll she carried everywhere. Anna had been excited to see the scan pictures and when Cristina had spare moments she had sat with her and flicked through baby magazines. As much as in the past it would have pained her to admit it, she actually enjoyed this glimpse into her future in the role she had fought so hard against. She was slowly starting to believe that Owen was right- she might just be able to be a great surgeon and a great mother.

"Ouch!." a sharp pain stabbed in her back and across her baby bump. She had been getting these pains for a few days. Damn these Braxton Hicks! She thought as she adjusted her feet to change her posture. Four more weeks of this would be torture!

For the next 10 minutes or so the OR team continued to work away in silence. All that could be heard was the scraping of stainless steel instruments against each other, the steady beep of the monitors and the whirring of the ventilators.

"Damn it! Owww!" the pained cry cut through the surgical soundscape and suddenly all eyes were on the resident who was elbow deep in a chest cavity. Worried eyes darted around the room- had something gone wrong with the procedure? Had she nicked an artery or vein? Cut herself and the precious organ's tissue?

"Are you ok?" asked Jackson, scanning the heart for any signs of damage.

"Fine, just uncomfortable. You try being 8 months pregnant with a huge soldier's baby and not be uncomfortable. Suction!" Cristina hissed back, keeping her voice quiet so as not to involve the whole OR and gallery in the conversation.

Jackson was always amazed by Cristina's focus and even though they were both at the same stage in their training, he always bowed to the invisible line of authority that she had stepped over since saving Derek Shepherd at gunpoint.

Cristina's small, agile hands continued to move around the heart. Her dexterity and ease of movement was hypnotizing to watch. Like watching a talented dancer move to the rhythm of their favourite song, fluidity and grace creating something magical before your very eyes. It drew you in and left you wanting to see more.

Meredith grinned to herself, up in the OR gallery as she looked at her best friend doing what she loved. Meredith wasn't sure if she would ever get the old Cristina back after the shooting but she had and she was just so grateful. She knew who she had to thank for her friend being so happy. They had not always seen eye to eye over Cristina but Meredith had grown to love him as she knew that Owen was perfect for Cristina. He was perfect. She got up, casting one last look of love at her person before she made her way to the ER to tell her best friends' other person how amazing she was.

Just as she was about to ask the surgical technician to take Anna off bypass to test the blood flow, an intense, deep pain pulled hard across her abdomen.

"Owwww..." letting out a slow steady breath she rocked gently forward and back on her heels trying to shake the pain out of her body.

Cristina was determined to finish this repair and see Anna back into recovery. She was so close to the end of her first solo transplant, she only had to tie off the stitches and then Jackson could close.

_It's just Braxton Hicks Cristina! You are hardcore! Suck it up!_ Her head was trying to drill these thoughts into her body as she continued the repair.

"Umm, Jackson, can you..." before she could finish the sentence she felt a gush between her legs and heard the swish of liquid hitting the OR floor. The force of the pressure and the tight pain that engulfed her lower body caused Cristina to drop the surgical instruments to the floor, double over and use the side of the OR table to support her. She took some deep breaths, wishing she had taken the birthing class seriously.

Teddy jumped back as the fluid hit her feet and splashed the bottom of her scrubs.

"What was that?" Teddy exclaimed frantically, grabbing onto Cristina's arm to step out of the puddle.

"My waters just broke. Scissors!" Pushing herself up to full height now the pain had passed, Cristina held out her hands to Bokey waiting to be handed a fresh set of the surgical instruments to continue the final phase of the transplant.

"Someone page Dr Hunt!" Teddy cried, moving forward to the operating table to take over from Cristina. "Let me take over!"

"Why?" Cristina's eyed Teddy like she was crazy. She was finishing her part of the procedure. With a defiant glance in her attending's direction, Cristina purposefully put in the final stitch and cut the sutures.

"Why!" Teddy, watching her resident sew and cut, was totally exasperated. "Cristina, your waters have just broken, you are in active labour!"

Meanwhile….

Owen was completing the ER's budget in his office. He was frustrated. He had wanted to go and watch Cristina perform her first solo transplant but these extra administrative duties were taking over all his time. He hadn't seen the inside of an OR for nearly a week and had barely been on the ER floor to see any patients. He was so proud of his wife. At 8 months pregnant she was still hungry for surgery! He had not yet managed to convince himself that she would take a whole 9 months off from cutting to stay home with the baby, but he was just going to have to take it all one step at a time. Just get to the end of next week until the maternity leave started.

There was a loud wrap at the door.

"Come in." Owen's voice commanded. The door slid open and Meredith Grey stepped over the threshold.

"Thought you might like to know that your brilliant wife has almost finished attaching the donor heart to the vessels and they are getting ready to check the blood flow and arterial pressure. She kicked that transplant's ass!"

Owen laughed. "As if she would do anything but!"

The husband and the best friend. Not an easy combination at the start, they seemed to be pulling in different directions as if fighting for Cristina like children fight for toys. But now an easy truce and a bond had formed. These 2 couples were connected- brothers, sisters and their children. As Meredith and Owen smiled at each other, they both thought how nice it was to be a part of Cristna's life and each others families.

BEEP...BEEP...BEEP!

Owen's pager was ringing on the 911 alert. He quickly reached into his pocket to check where he was needed.

OR2 emergency!

"OR2?" Owen questioned out loud as he jumped up from the desk.

"Cristina!" Meredith and Owen shouted in unison as they bolted towards the door and set off running to the surgical elevator.

"Owwww, ouch!" Cristina was leaning forward against the wall, her hands bracing her. Teddy was rubbing her lower back, trying to encourage her to breathe. She had removed her scrub cap and tied Cristina's long curls up in messy bun with a rubber band

"Jackson!" Cristina barked when the contraction had passed. "What is happening with Anna? Check the blood flow! Are the stitches holding! Tell me!" she was hysterical. Her words were coming out high pitched and strangled by the pain.

"Everything is fine. Just concentrate on your breathing. Stapler!" Jackson began to close the chest cavity, almost laughing to himself. This was the most surreal moment in his surgical career to date! At this rate they would be delivering a baby straight after this heart transplant.

"Owen, I want Owen." Cristina whimpered, the contractions were getting stronger, lasting longer and coming more frequently.

"He'll be here! Any minute, he won't want to miss this." Teddy tried her best to sound calm. Where the hell was Owen!

"I'm here!" Owen burst through the OR doors moments later, a surgical mask held over his face. "What is going on?"

Meredith was poking her head around Owen's body trying to get a view of what was happening but all she could see was a stable patient on the table and Jackson wielding a stapler with all the joy of a kid with a forbidden toy.

"Her waters broke a couple of minutes ago and the contractions are coming every 2 minutes. I haven't been able to check how dilated she is. She won't let me" Teddy informed Owen pointedly. Even in labour this woman was so stubborn and headstrong.

"I am not getting my girl parts out in front of the whole OR!" Cristina spat, just before another contraction took over.

"owwwwwww, ohhhhhhhhhhhh" leaning further forward Cristina again tried to breathe but the pain was so intense it was making her feel sick. Swallowing down the wave of nausea that threatened to join her waters on the OR floor she looked at Owen pleadingly, her eyes begging him to get these people away from her.

"Done!" Jackson put in the last staple and looked up for congratulations but the whole OR was huddled around the odd figure of Cristina Yang, badass surgeon, being screwed into submission by childbirth.

"Avery, Altman, take Anna to recovery and go update her family." Owen, reading his wife's eyes, immediately stepped into commanding officer mode. His child was going to be born right here and right now and he needed to get this situation under control.

"Grey, go and get a pack of sterile drapes and a birthing kit. Run!" Meredith was frozen to the spot; she couldn't believe she was looking at Cristina Yang in labour! A baby was about to come out of her! A real life baby!

"Grey move!" Owen shouted so loudly that the reverberation of the sound waves felt like they actually hit Meredith square in the chest and she turned on her heels and ran down the hallway.

"Cristina," Owen sat down next to where she was now kneeling on all fours in the middle of OR 2 and began to rub her back. "I need to check how far along this labour is! Ok?"

"YOU are not delivering this baby! You are a trauma surgeon! Nothing about this is ok! I want drugs!" Cristina's voice was hot with tears and pain. "This hurts! It really frickin hurts!"

"Baby I know!" Owen soothed and bent forward to kiss her head.

"YOU KNOW NOTHING!" his wife bellowed. He edged his face out of her line of fire. "This is all your stupid hardcore soldier sperms fault! My one ovary was ambushed! Owwwwwwww!"

Another contraction came and she rocked back on her knees, kneeling up shaking from the pain. She clenched her fists and began punching the front of Owen's chest, trying to beat the pain out of her body and into his.

"Tell me what you want me to do?" Owen implored her. She was actually really hurting him but he knew better than to say anything at this point. He just gritted his teeth and took it. He hated seeing her this much pain, so if it helped he would allow her anything.

"Get a vasectomy!" Cristina was crying. Tears were falling fast from her eyes.

"You can do this Cristina! We can do this!" Owen's voice was comforting, as she felt the wave of pain starting to ebb away, his voice filled her up with warmth.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and sobbed into his chest, "I am sorry!" enjoying a moments rest before the waves started crashing once again. Owen gently rocked her in his arms trying to take the pain and fear away for even a second.

The door to the OR crashed open and Meredith rushed in ripping open the packet of drapes and laying them out on the floor.

"I bought someone who has actually had a baby!" Meredith inclined her head towards where Miranda Bailey was pulling on a pair of gloves.

"Dr Hunt, sit with your back against the wall and help her sit up in between your legs." Miranda Bailey was not someone you argued with or questioned, especially when she was in her bossy mini chief mode. Owen, temporarily let go of Cristina, shuffled backwards and did as she said, helping his wife get comfortable between his thighs.

"Grey, pass me a sheet, let's give the woman some dignity." Throwing the sheet Meredith passed to her over Cristina's lower body, she talked directly to her in a soothing voice not often heard escaping from this fierce woman's lips. But for Miranda this was a special moment- Cristina was one of her babies, she had raised her and she deserved this to be a good experience, especially after the last time. Pausing a moment to stave off a prickle of emotion, Miranda centered herself and looked Cristina directly in the eye:

"Honey, I know it hurts! You are doing great. I am going to help you out of your pants and take a look, ok?"

In the grip of another contraction, Cristina managed to nod her head in agreement. She was gripping Owen's hands and pressing her back into his chest as hard as she could. It felt good to have him there; she could not have done this without him. He was her rock, he anchored her and made her believe quite frankly in miracles. He saw her for who she saw herself to be and also in ways that she never imagined she could be.

"Ok." Bailey nodded too and pulled off Cristina's pants, underwear shoes and socks. She began to take a look to see what stage they were at. She stopped while Cristina gave herself over to another strong contraction, rubbing her leg softly to show her support.

"Get me an epidural!" Cristina screamed grabbing onto the front of Owen's scrubs and wrenching his body forwards over her shoulder.

_Just go with it Hunt! You survived a war, you can survive a birth! _He pressed the side of his face against hers, lightly kissed her cheek and whispered. "I love you." He really didn't know what he could do but he wanted to show her he was here and if he could do this for her and take away the pain he would.

"Cristina, It's too late for that you are 10 cm dilated. It's time to push!" Bailey's head popped up from her position between Cristina's legs to deliver the news." Grey, get over here and help brace her left leg."

Meredith sheepishly came forward and did as the attending asked. "Thank God for a hostile uterus!" she muttered to herself. This was not an experience she thought she wanted to go through any time soon. They didn't call it labour ironically that was for sure!

With Bailey and Meredith bracing both her legs Cristina began to push with each contraction. She pushed against Meredith and Bailey's hands to get leverage but it didn't feel like it was making any difference. Time seemed to have stood still.

"It's crowning!" Meredith exclaimed, an hour into the pushing phase, with a mixture of excitement and disgust at looking at her best friend's private parts popping out a baby. "It has hair!"

"Push, Cristina! Push!" Owen could not keep the excitement out of his voice. Soon he was going to finally become a father and they would be a family. The fact that it was happening with this woman, the woman he loved with every inch of his being, the one who had carried him through all of his pain and made him light again, made it all the more right.

"I am pushing you son of a bitch! Shut up!" Cristina spoke through clenched teeth. She was trying to focus and her husband, whose fault this all was anyway, was not helping by stating the obvious.

She pulled in a deep breath and forced herself to push again and again and again.

"I can't do it!" Cristina's exhausted voice made Owen's heart ache as she collapsed further back against him.

Sitting her up straight and shuffling closer into her back he planted his hands around her and told her in no uncertain terms "yes you can! You are the strong one, you can do this!"

Taking strength from her husband, as she had many times since loving him, she gripped her knees and bore down as the next contraction came, "aaaaaaarghhhh, arrrrghhhhh!"

"Good girl! The shoulders are out now. One more big push now!" Bailey urged her on, knowing how annoying it had been when she had been giving birth but unable to stop herself. She was nearly as giddy with excitement as Owen!

Cristina did not have the energy to fight the cheerleading, so grabbing onto Owen's hand she pushed, she pushed hard until she felt a slipping sensation and heard a loud, high pitched cry.

"It's a boy!" Owen exclaimed his eyes full of tears, as Bailey held the baby up for them to see. He was tiny but long, with black hair and huge dark brown eyes. "He looks just like you. He is beautiful!" Owen wrapped his arms around Cristina who was lying in Owen's lap completely overwhelmed and worn out.

Bailey was rubbing the baby clean and wrapped a towel around him. "Do you want to cut the cord, Daddy!"

Owen's eyes widened at hearing that term applied to him and he gazed at his son filled with such total bliss that it took his breath away. Owen took the scissors Meredith was offering him and cut the umbilical cord, welcoming his son to the world.

"Is he ok?" Cristina murmured.

"He's perfect!" smiled Meredith as she injected some syntometrine into Cristina's thigh and began to deliver the placenta. Once it was done, she busied herself cleaning up the mess.

"Let's give you to your mama" Bailey cooed over the tiny little boy in her arms. Owen helped Cristina sit up and curled her back into his arms. And as Bailey hand her son to her, she could not hold back the tear and began to sob openly as she spoke to him:

"I know you." At the sound of her voice the big brown eyes fixed on hers and looked expectantly at what his mother was saying. "I may make mistakes and get things wrong but I will always try to be excellent for you." She bent down and kissed the soft skin of the baby's forehead and breathed him in.

Owen, listened to his wife talk to their son and could not hold back his emotion. "Thank you Cristina" he whispered into her ear and nuzzled into her neck. "I love you both so much."

"I love you too! Thank you for making me believe I could do this." Sitting in her husbands arms looking at the life they created out of real love, she felt a stab of guilt that she nearly threw all this away. Pressing her fingers lightly on her son's chest she felt his heart beat against her fingers. This was what mattered, this little boy whose heartbeat shared their rhythm. He was here and he was theirs.

The baby instinctively curled further into her. _Just like his father!_ She thought happily.

"What a way to enter the world!" She laughed lightly. This was not the birth she had imagined but hey you adapt or die right!

" OR2! This is your OR Cristina. Where else would he have made his first appearance!" Owen chuckled as Cristina placed their son in the crook of his left arm and curled herself under his right. His muscular, bare forearm dwarfed the baby but their son wiggled contentedly in his father's arms, finally finding a comfortable position. He began to snuffle and the fell into a deep sleep with little hiccups and snores punctuating the air.

Owen ran one hand along his son's cheek and marveled at how amazing he was. This tiny boy full of possibility and innocence. Owen now knew what he had been fighting his personal war for- they were both right here in his arms. But now the battle was over and the victory tasted so sweet.

Turning his head to look at his wife, who looked tired but positively glowing, he caught her lips in a slow and lingering kiss. She kissed him back and wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tight. Owen just wanted to savour this moment, to imprint in deep in his memory as the moment he was totally whole again.

Squeezing both his son and his wife to him as tightly as he could never wanting to let go, he whispered to them both the three words that had defined his relationship with Cristina in the after, the three words that in relation to his family he would mean for ever:

"Take care now" 


	16. Chapter 16

From the scrub room, Bailey observed the people sitting on the floor in OR2 and smiled. They had saved a lot of lives in there, they lost some too but this life that they had bought into the world today in there was even more precious. A man with a gun had stood in that room and nearly destroyed them all. But the mother of that child had fought to save the man the gunman was targeting, even though being the hero that day had cost her everything. She had battled to save her husband from his war wounds and battled her demons to want to be a mother. Bailey laughed out loud as she thought, _Cristina Yang gave birth in the OR! _Muttering to herself as she slid open the door "If that beautiful baby boy is not a future Harper Avery winner, then I'm not Miranda Bailey!"

"I am sorry to disturb you but we need to get them both upstairs" Bailey spoke to Owen in a voice just above a whisper, as she put the brakes on the wheelchair she was pushing. She felt guilty for breaking up the scene in front of her. Dr Hunt had his sleeping son curled up in his arm, while Cristina had fallen asleep tucked under his other one, the sheet still wrapped around her legs.

Owen nodded silently, his face full of pride and contentment, and gently shook Cristina to wake her.

"Cristina...Cristina...it's time to go." Owen spoke directly into her ear, not wanting to break the bubble around his family.

"I'm too tired" Cristina grumbled as she slowly sat up. She instinctively looked for their son. Our son! Those words played in her mind on repeat, and she felt instant relief when she saw him sleeping peacefully in Owen's arm. She already felt like a mother and she didn't even have to try. Biology was a strange phenomenon.

"Come on now. Let's go and get you cleaned up and get this boy checked over." Bailey was giving Cristina her best "don't mess with the Nazi" face and Cristina, too tired to be defiant, let Owen and Bailey help her into the wheelchair. Owen gently place the baby into Cristina's arms and picked up her damp clothes and shoes that had been discarded on the floor, casualties of the firefight that had been their son's birth.

Cristina held her little boy tight against her chest, his tiny face pressed into her neck, his tiny fingers touching the stray curls that hung down. It made her smile as she thought about how his gestures were already like Owen's- her husband snuggled into her neck when they hugged and he always found an excuse to touch her hair.

As Bailey wheeled her towards the elevator to carry them to their room and Owen walked beside her, his hand on her shoulder, she felt like that all the pain she had ever experienced in her life had led her to this point. She was experiencing pure, undiluted, untarnished happiness for the first time and it felt wonderful.

An hour later, after Bailey had stitched her up, helped her to take a shower and change into some pyjamas, Cristina was lying back on the hospital bed watching Arizona weighing her son. Owen was already doing his over protective father act, watching everything intently, explaining to his son what was being done and why. The baby looked up at his father in awe, the heavy lashed brown eyes darting across his face as if taking his own optical snapshot of his new hero. As Arizona finished and Owen began to wash and dress his son, in the soft green baby grow the Chief had given them at the baby shower, Cristina mused, not taking her eyes off them for a moment, _Lexie was right, what was it about a hot man and a cute baby!_

Arizona turned away from the crib, leaving Owen to get his son dressed.

"He is 7lbs 12oz and 60cm long. He looks great." Arizona smiled at Cristina, as she scribbled on the chart. "everyone wants to come and see him. Meredith has told everyone how gorgeous he is."

"Can you tell them to come later? I am really tired." Cristina was telling the truth, but also she just wanted to curl up with her husband and their son and shut out the rest of the world. Just for a little while she wanted it to be them.

Arizona nodded and made to leave the room. Just before she got to the door, she turned back. "congratulations mummy and daddy!" She grinned, her perfect paediatric smile, opened the door and slid down the hall on her heelies.

Owen popped the last fastening on the baby grown and scooped his son up off the mattress of the crib, "come on buddy. Let's go see mummy." He could have sworn he saw a smile curl across the tiny rosebud mouth. His son was a genius-definitely his mother's son!

Turning around to find his wife gazing at him, Owen tilted his head to the side and smiled at her. She looked beautiful- her hair was wet and twisted up loosely at the nape of her neck. She was wearing a pair of plaid pyjamas trousers, a black vest and her favourite wooly cardigan. She looked exactly the same but totally different. She looked

Returning the adoring look being bestowed on her by her amazing husband, Cristina tapped the mattress, gesturing for Owen to bring their son and lay next to her. Owen climbed carefully onto the bed and laid on his back. He settled the baby on his chest while Cristina wriggled to get comfortable in the remaining space. The small hospital bed felt suddenly more comfortable now that the 2 men in her life were in it with her.

"He needs a name." Cristina slid down the bed and laid her head on Owen's cheat directly opposite their son. His brown eyes opened a little wider as his mother reached out her hand and stroked one finger underneath his. He immediately gripped his fist around it, not wanting to let go of the woman who would define his life.

As her son gripped her finger, Cristina felt confused. She almost could not remember what her life was like before he arrived but that was crazy- he had only been here for a couple of hours! At the start she hadn't wanted him, now the thought of not seeing him, not being with him or losing him felt too frightening and painful to contemplate.

"He looks so like you. What about Cristian?" Owen was only half joking, he did like that name.

"I'm Jewish!" Owen could feel Cristina roll her eyes against his chest. He smiled and dropped a kiss on her head.

"You did all the hard work, so you decide. For me it doesn't matter what we call him. He is our son, that is not a small thing, that is everything." Owen's voice was full of emotion. He rubbed his son's back gently and the baby snuffled his nose onto his scrubs.

"Daniel." Cristina offered the name quietly, not quite sure how Owen would react.

Dan had been Owen best friend in Iraq and, as he lay dying in Owen's arms, he had made Owen promise that he would get home and live. Owen had not been living until he had been able to love and be loved by Cristina. She was his whole life. Until today. Now this little boy had opened his heart even further and he now inhabited the space that had been reserved just for him. If it was possible he loved his wife even more now than he ever had, she had given him the chance to be a better man once again.

"Cristina...you don't have to..." Owen's voice faltered as Dan's face flashed across his eyes. But not in the way he had when he had lived and died in his nightmares, this time he was smiling. As if he was looking on to be sure that Owen had kept his promise and seeing that he had Dan was free. And so was Owen.

Cristina pushed herself up and rested her chin on her hands, her face inches away from her husband's. "Iraq is part of who you are, Dan was part of who you came back as." Owen averted his eyes and she took his face in her hands, forcing him to look in her eyes, and stroked his beard. "I hope that our son is as brave, loyal and kind as you are. I hope, in the battles and wars in his life, he fights hard for what he loves like you have always done, like you fought for Dan, like you fought for us."

"are sure?" Cristina lightly kissed his lips and gave a small nod as she pulled her lips away.

Owen tentatively asked, "Can I put forward the middle name?"

He paused to take a breath, "Michael."

Cristina felt the tears prick in the backs of her eyes. Her Dad's name was Michael.

"thank you." Cristina sniffed, thinking how much she wished her dad could be here to see his grandson. Owen squeezed her tighter into his side and they lay there in silence for a few moments, remembering those they had loved and lost and how they were still connected and part of the life of this little boy.

Turning his head so his chin rested lightly on the soft hair on the baby's head "welcome to the world Daniel Michael..." Owen paused, they had not decided on the surname.

"Hunt. welcome to the world Daniel Michael Hunt. I may be a Yang in here." Cristina gestured around the room to indicate that she meant in the hospital. " but I am Cristina Hunt in here." she laced her fingers through Owen's hand and placed their combined warmth directly over her heart.

Stretching his lips to kiss his wife, Cristina could taste his tears and Owen could taste hers. She deepened the kiss, letting him know that they were now in the after of the after. He responded, moving his tongue slowly against her, letting her know that he wasn't going anywhere without her or Daniel.

"I love you, mummy." Owen wrapped his arm around Cristina and stroked her arm and Daniel's back in perfect harmony.

"I love you too, Daddy." placing her hand on top of Owen's as the rhythmical stroking lulled Daniel to sleep, she closed her eyes.

She wanted to enjoy these moments, when it was the 3 of them, their perfect family, living the huge life for the 40 years or more that Owen had promised them.

Just before she drifted off to sleep, she murmured, "We love you, Daniel."


	17. Chapter 17

"waa...waaa...waaaa" Daniel's high pitched cry startled Cristina out of her deep sleep. She immediately sat up and turned towards the sound. Owen had lifted their son out of the hospital crib and was carrying him towards her, cooing and rocking him as he walked. Daniel continued to scream, his tiny face contorted with tears and his little hands balled into fists.

"I think he is hungry." Owen informed Cristina, almost apologetically. She had looked so beautiful and peaceful sleeping. About half an hour earlier, as soon as Daniel had began to snore, Owen had carefully unwrapped himself from Cristina, slid off the bed, placed his son in the crib and sat down in the rocking chair delighting in the simple pleasure of just watching the 2 most precious people in his world.

Pulling a pillow put from behind her back and placing it across her lap, Cristina held her arms open for Owen to place Daniel in. Knowing that his hunger was about to be sated, Daniel's cries turned into whimpers as he foraged at his mother's chest for the source of his craving.

Unhooking the front of the nursing vest and freeing her left breast, Cristina gently turned her son's stomach towards her, just as she had read in the many baby books she had poured over during pregnancy in her spare moments away from work, and guided his mouth towards her nipple.

"That's it! Clever boy." Wincing slightly as he latched on first time and began to suck furiously, Cristina looked up to see Owen gazing at her wistfully.

"What?" Cristina asked softly, stretching out a hand towards him. She missed the feel of him and wanted to connect him to the feeding of their son for the first time.

"I think you look beautiful." Owen's voice was full of love, as he moved forwards and clasped her hand in his, taking it to his mouth and planting a light kiss on her finger tips. His love made Cristina want to be excellent at everything that came with being a mother. He believed so fiercely in her capabilities and she did not want to let him down. He had once told her that mistakes were how you learn and boy had she. The mistakes she had made with Owen, nearly loosing him all together, had taught her the most important lesson she had ever had to learn- she could not breathe or live without him. She had finally found 2 things she loved so much, her husband and their son, and she was going to cling on tighter and tighter and never let them go.

Daniel had relaxed into a slower, deeper sucking motion and Cristina felt content to sit for as long as it took to satisfy this little boy. She had thought that breastfeeding would feel weird, what woman really wanted a toothless mouth sucking away for hours on end! But it didn't, it felt like the most natural thing in the world- it made her feel complete almost, knowing that she was the only one that could give Daniel exactly what he needed at that moment. He had chosen her to be his mother, they knew everything about each other and yet had years ahead to find out more. A fleeting thought danced across her consciousness. She could not imagine this same scene feeling like this with Burke. It would have been stifling; she would have been terrified of failure, just as she was in the aftermath of the shooting. But with Owen it felt liberating- she was containing more than she ever thought possible and Daniel had tied their lives together even tighter than the wedding bands they had exchanged over a year earlier. She smiled down at the sweet little boy, his eyes closed and his tiny fingers resting on the soft skin of her breast as he ate. She gently stroked his hair, reassuring both him and herself with her touch that he was just where he was meant to be.

"Can you go and get me some coffee, decaf remember, and something to eat? I am starving!" What with the transplant and the labour, she remembered that she and not actually eaten in about 20 hours.

Not wanting to leave his little family for even a second, Owen felt a wrench of separation anxiety in his heart.

"Ok, but don't you two go anywhere." He bent down and dropped a kiss on Daniel's head, being careful not to disturb the feed he was obviously enjoying. "I will be as quick as I can" Owen punctuated these words with soft, grazing kisses on Cristina's lips.

Just before he opened the door to head towards the cafeteria, Owen turned back to take in once more the view of his beautiful wife feeding their perfect son.

20 minutes later, Cristina had just finished burping Daniel and had climbed off the bed to place him back in the crib when Owen came back with 2 cups of coffee and a bag of sandwiches and snacks, which he placed on the bedside cabinet

"Come here." Cristina got up out of the rocking chair she had been sitting in and indicated for Owen to sit down. "I want to make the most of this time with just you." She climbed onto his lap, placed her arms around his neck and curled down into his arms. Owen squeezed his wife's tiny body into his and rocked the chair back and forth slowly.

Cristina ate her sandwich and savoured the hot cup of coffee as she let her husband's warmth envelop her. This was probably one of the most perfect lunch dates she had shared with Owen, just the 2 of them curled up together enjoying the quiet and the closeness as they could just be together in companionable silence. They both noticed each other stealing little glances over to check on their son, still dreaming happily in the crib.

"How are you feeling?" Owen asked as he rubbed her back softly with one hand and her thigh with the other.

"I'm ok, tired and a bit sore but I'm happy." Cristina smiled at her husband and leaned her head up towards his. "You know what would make me feel better though?"

"Enlighten me!" Owen smirked kissing the end of her nose.

"This!" Cristina took her husband's face in the palms of her hands and kissed him tenderly. She slipped her tongue between his lips to deepen the kiss. She wanted to remember what Cristina and Owen were outside of being parents, to feel all the passion they had for each other and the love that had moulded together to produce this beautiful baby.

After a few more moments of enjoying their physical conversation they broke away. Cristina rested her head on Owen's shoulder and adjusted herself into a more comfortable position on his lap.

"Promise me, we won't forget about this once we are in the middle of dirty diapers, sleepless nights and all the other parts of being a parent that make you forget who you are or the things you had to enjoy to make the baby in the first place!" Cristina's tone was slightly forced, she was trying to sound as if she was joking but a small part of her was scared that Owen would forget her. She had waited so long to find him and then fought so hard to be with him, that to loose what they had built, even to their son, made her heart ache and she feared if it happened it would break into a thousand shards that could never be put back together.

"Never! Even if I was dying I would use my dying breath to kiss you or make love to you. I promise." Owen kissed Cristina's forehead, imprinting his word on her body. "I will always make time for us. You have given me everything I have ever wanted and I will spend everyday for the rest of my life thanking you for that. I love you."

Knowing that he was a man of his word, she felt instantly safe. It was as if his words were like protective armour. They armed her against the attack of her own fears and self doubt and strengthened her resolve to be nothing short of excellent.

"And I love you." 4 simple words, simply said but deeply meant.

"Knock, knock!" Meredith's voice sing songed quietly from behind the door. She gently pushed it open to reveal Zola wriggling in her arms, holding a small blue teddy bear in her chubby fist. Catching sight of the couple snuggled up in the rocking chair, Meredith felt like she was intruding on an intensely private moment. "Sorry, we don't want to interrupt, we can come back later."

Cristina smiled and beckoned for her best friend to enter the room. "Don't be silly, come on."

Cristina pushed herself out of Owen's lap and Owen stood up behind her. Zola giggled as Owen came towards them and she stretched her arms out for her Uncle to take her.

"Come on gorgeous girl." Owen cooed as he settled her onto his hip. Zola tickled her fingers on his chin and both of them smiled. "Shall we go and meet Daniel? Yes?" Zola let out a little woop of delight as Owen gently jiggled her side to side.

Meredith, lightly laughing at how in love Zola was with Owen, had made her way over to the crib with Cristina and Daniel's eyes widened to take her in. He knew that the dark haired woman was his mother, the blonder one he wasn't so sure about. He didn't know who she was but he knew she was someone special.

"Can I?" Meredith asked, itching to hold her godson.

"Of course!" Cristina reached down to scoop up her son and kissed his cheek before she transferred him into Meredith's arms.

"Hi...hi Daniel. I'm your Aunt Meredith." she bent her head to breathe in his scent. He smelled of baby shampoo and newness. He looked just like Cristina, but had Owen's cheekbones and you could tell from his long limbs that he would eventually dwarf his tiny mother.

Owen had bought Zola up close so she could see the tiny little man squirming in her mother's arms. "Look Zola, this is Daniel." Meredith tilted Daniel up so he was face to face with Zola.

Zola looked quizzically at the baby and pushed the teddy bear towards him.

Cristina took the bear from her tight grip, telling her god daughter, "Daniel is too little to hold it, but shall we put it here in his bed?" Placing the bear at the head of the crib she looked back at Zola to check for her approval. Zola clapped her hands together, letting Cristina know she was ok with it!

"Well, he is beautiful! You did a great job, Cristina." Meredith sat down on the side of the bed and squeezed the little boy close to her. Cristina sat down next to her and rested her head on her best friend's shoulder.

Owen sensing that the now not so twisted mother's needed a minute, walked towards the door. "I am going to take the other woman in my life to get some candy. You 2 spend some time with Daniel."

"Thank you." Cristina mouthed the words silently to her husband. He caught them and mouthed back "no problem," and he and Zola went off to see if the vending machine was still working.

"I have to admit I am glad that I didn't have to do the whole baby coming out of me thing!" Meredith's honesty made Cristina laugh.

"He was worth it! And I am nothing but hardcore, you are all soft core going the easy adoption route!" Cristina knew that the joke would not upset her person. Meredith had never been happier than when she was with Zola and she laughed out loud that even after labour Cristina's dry wit was as sharp as ever.

"Are you happy?" Daniel had fallen asleep again and Meredith got up to gently place him back in the cot. She moved the teddy bear under his tiny hand and pulled the blanket up over him.

"I can honestly say that I now know what it feels like to be a shiny, happy person like April Kepner! I feel totally whole, which is weird because I thought surgery and Owen were enough but now I know that without Daniel part of me would have been empty. It is like the icicle made a hole that only Daniel could fill. You know?"

"I do. I totally do." Meredith lay back on the bed and Cristina joined her. The best friends, heads touching, holding hands just lay together as they had numerous times before in the 8 years they had known each other. But this time they weren't in the dark and twisty place, they were both in the light.

"You know that Zola and Daniel are going to get married and have a tortured, on again off again relationship, just like we have had with their fathers, right?"

"Seriously?" Cristina flicked the remote at the TV and a baby cartoon leapt of the screen and filled the room with the inane jingle about mickey mouse.

Meredith lightly nudged Cristina in the ribs and told her the absolute truth of the situation, "seriously!"


	18. Chapter 18

"Let's go home." Owen spoke softly to his son as he clipped him into the infant carrier, ready to safely take his place in the back of the truck.

Cristina was sitting in the wheel chair that Bailey had insisted was part of hospital protocol for escorting patients off the premises for discharge. Cristina had tried to argue that labour was not an illness and that she was staff, not a patient. But seeing that Bailey would not budge she forced herself into the wheelchair and allowed her husband to place her overnight bag on her lap, just before he picked up the car seat and the family, accompanied by Bailey, made the first steps into their huge new life together outside of the Walls of Seattle Grace Mercy West.

As Owen clipped the car seat into the back seat of his truck, checking and double checking his precious boy was secure, Bailey placed the overnight bag in the boot and opened the passenger side for her resident.

"Ok then." Bailey felt she had to mark this moment with a speech but for once words failed her. Her intern was grown, she had raised her right and she knew that Cristina and Owen would raise their baby right.

Without so much as a second thought, Cristina bent down and hugged Miranda Bailey. For a split second Bailey stood stiff, her arms glued to her sides, taken aback by the demonstrative gesture by Cristina Yang. But as Cristina whispered "thank you so much for everything," Bailey softened and hugged her back, just like a proud mother hugs her child when they have done something so wonderful that you just want them to feel how much you love them and how much you believed in them.

"Right...well..." Bailey broke away, any longer and it would start to get soppy and Bailey did not do soppy. "I do not want to see you in this hospital until your leave is over, unless it is to go for lunch with your friends or bring that beautiful boy to visit. You hear me! Go and be a mother, the OR will still be here with a list of surgeries waiting."

"Yes, Dr Bailey." Cristina actually meant it. Surgery was the last thing on her mind at the moment. She just wanted to get back to their home and spend some time with the men that had filled up her life.

Owen drove home slowly, turning round at every stop sign to check on his backseat passenger.

"He is fine." Cristina told him every time he did it. _It is cute really_, she thought as she placed her hand on Owen's on top of the gear stick. _He already is an amazing father._

"I know. I'm just checking." Owen's tone was slightly defensive. He resolutely gripped the steering wheel at 10 and 2, determined to drive the rest of the way to their firehouse without doing his best impression of an excessively anxious parent.

Pulling into the underground car park, Owen quickly yanked up the handbrake and jumped out of the car. He opened Cristina's door and lifted her out of the truck, kissing her tenderly on the lips before placing her feet onto the pavement.

"We left here yesterday to go to work as a married couple and now we are coming home as parents." Owen hugged Cristina close and spoke into the curls that hung around her neck.

Cristina leaned back to look into his eyes, sparkling deep blue with anticipation and full of excitement for the road ahead, running her fingers through his hair, she pulled his head down to kiss him once more, telling him as her lips slowly broke contact with his, "you can have the pleasure of the first dirty diaper at home!" She wrinkled her nose playfully pecked another kiss on his lips as they curled into a small smile and moved to lift her baby out of the car ready to take him into his new home.

Owen unlocked the door and carried the bag across the threshold. He held the door open for Cristina and Daniel to step into the warmth of their home. Once all three were inside he shut the door, closing out the cold November night and the rest of the world. All that existed was a mother, a father and their day old son.

"I am going to make us some dinner. Why don't you put him down in his cot?" Owen was pulling off his jacket and hanging it up on the coat stand by the sofa.

"I read that you are supposed to take your baby into every room in your house when you first bring them home. It helps them to settle or something. So come on Daniel, let me show you around." As she spoke Cristina shrugged of her jacket, moving Daniel from one arm to the other to get her own arms out. She let the coat drop in a heap on the floor, kicked off her shoes and padded her way towards the kitchen.

Owen rolled his eyes. Motherhood had not fixed the untidy streak in his wife! He hung up her coat, picked up her shoes and placed them by the stairs and followed his wife into the kitchen to see what was in the refrigerator.

"This is the kitchen, but daddy will tell you more about that because mummy doesn't come in here much." Cristina spun around 360 degrees to show her son a panoramic view of the kitchen she and Owen had restored in the once derelict space she had purchased for them to make a home. Satisfied that the baby had taken everything in, she walked towards the bathroom.

Owen stayed in the kitchen and noted that Meredith had stocked up their refrigerator. He knew this because she had left a note, reading_ Babies, mummies or daddies can't live on cereal or tequila! Enjoy! Love M, D And Z.x_

He pulled out some salmon and some salad, flicked on the oven and set to work fixing dinner for his wife.

"Ah now the bathroom, this I think is where you were made, here in this shower. And Daddy spent one night, a long time age now, holding mummy's hair back as she was very sick. Now drinking is very bad, I want you to remember that." Daniel's tour was continuing. Cristina was sure that he was taking it all in. His heavy lashed brown eyes were focusing on different points in each room. Closing the bathroom door, she walked through the open, airy space and sat down on their bed. She could not wait to sleep in it after a night in a very uncomfortable hospital version.

"This is where mummy and daddy sleep. This is daddy's guitar- if you ask him nicely he will play songs for you but don't touch it without asking ok?" Daniel let out a little grunt, which Cristina took to mean an agreement about the guitar. She looked at him for a moment, seeing his eyelids drooping shut. "Now onto the most important place in our home." she knelt up on her side of the bed and lent over the side of the cot that stood next to it. The yellow covers with tiny bears on were fresh and bright, a few of the smaller toys they had been given at the baby shower sat in the end keeping it warm until it's rightful occupant came to take his permenant place. "This is your bed. Now we will be here right next to you all night. And when we are not here we will be in the next room so just call put if you need us alright."

Cristina lowered Daniel onto the soft mattress and held her arms around him until he stopped fidgeting. Gently pulling herself away from him, she climbed down off the bed and stood looking at her little sleeping boy. He looked so innocent and helpless. The fact that he was reliant on them for everything made Cristina shudder. Responsibility. She had the weight of it on her shoulders every time she stepped onto the OR, but this was different. With this responsibility the stakes were even higher than life or death. They had to raise a great man, to help Daniel achieve his dreams, realise his full potential and feel unconditionally loved. It was scary, really scary but here she was Cristina Yang, leaning into the fear, taking the risk and hoping for the best.

"He is fine." Cristina felt Owen's arms snake around her waist and she lent back into his chest as he joined her in gazing at the product of their all consuming love for each other. Owen was holding the little blue bear that Zola had bought to them yesterday at the hospital and Cristina took it and turned it over in her palms.

"I know. I just like looking at him." Cristina admitted honestly. With Owen she could not keep anything back any more, she wanted him to truly know her whole heart.

"Me too. I feel like I am missing something when I can't see him. He is just amazing isn't he?" The question was rhetorical. They just stood at the side of the cot and watched him sleep, the rise and fall of his tiny chest was almost hypnotic. They didn't notice that they had been standing there for the best part of 10 mintues.

"So what do we do now?" Cristina wondered out loud as she bent down and dropped the little bear under Daniel's fingers. As she stood up she pulled Owen's arms tighter around her waist. His muscular arms crossed over each other now her stomach was on its way to moving back to being flat again.

"We go and eat dinner and then try and get some sleep before he wakes up for his next feed." Owen took Cristina by the hand and led her back towards their kitchen table where he had set them each a place.

"Take care now." Cristina left the 3 special words with her special little boy, to comfort and protect him as he slumbered, so he would always know that his parents loved him.


	19. Chapter 19

It was 7pm. The candle light cast a soft glow through the open space of the firehouse. Owen had set the table with the same red cloth he had used for their infamous OR anniversary dinner and a huge bunch of red roses he had got delivered earlier in the day stood in vase in the centre.

Having left their son sleeping in his cot, Owen and Cristina had made their way through to the kitchen to enjoy the meal Owen had prepared.

As they ate, Cristina listened as Owen told her about his trauma presentation for an upcoming conference he and Derek were attending in Florida. She made a mental reminder to talk to Meredith about what they were going to do while their husbands were away for 5 days. She was not looking forward to not having him around, slightly nervous at being left in sole charge of Daniel.

"That was delicious. Thank you." Cristina rested her chin on her hands and watched happily as the light from the naked flame cast shadows across her husband's face.

"My-" before Owen could complete his sentence the quiet of the firehouse was filled with a the high pitched wail of it's newest resident.

"waaaaaaaaa...waaaaaaaaaaaa...waaaaaaaaaaaa."

Cristina pushed herself up from the table and walked towards the bedroom, "And so it begins!" she threw the comment back over her shoulder. Owen sighed and got up to tidy away the remnants of the meal and wondered when they would next get a quiet few minutes together. Parenthood was certainly going to be a roller coaster, but he definitely was enjoying the ride so far, even if it was a little louder than he and anticipated!

"Ok honey, are you hungry?" Cristina carried Daniel through to the living room and sat down on the sofa, pulled a large cushion across her lap and quickly positioned the screaming infant where he would be able to latch on easily. As soon as he had found her nipple, his tiny mouth began to suck furiously and the firehouse fell silent.

Owen came and sat down next to his wife. He quietly marvelled at biology- how the body was built to fulfil such a natural function of providing another human being with one of it's most basic needs. Cristina moved slowly, trying not to disturb her son, so she was resting against Owen's chest. "Once the real milk comes in I am going to start expressing so you can have your fair share of feeds." She nuzzled her head into his neck and turned her eyes up to search his face.

Owen, twisting a lock of her hair between his thumb and forefinger, kissed her forehead. "That will be nice."

They sat in easy silence while Daniel filled himself up. He fell asleep and his mouth dropped open and he slipped off his mothers nipple. His pursed his little rosebud mouth, adjusting to it being empty, and took some fast, shallow breaths before beginning to breath in a deep, low rhythm his eyelids fluttering to a stop.

His parents sat still for a few minutes waiting to ensure that this was real sleep.

"Here let me go and put him back to bed" Owen stood up and expertly lifted Daniel out of his mother's arms and rolled him onto his chest. The little boy let out a contented sigh but his eyes firmly closed. Both parent's breathed a silent sigh of relief for their son's contentment, how ever long it would last.

"I am going to take a shower". Getting up slowly off the couch, fatigued and still uncomfortable, Cristina followed her boys into the bedroom and gingerly opened the drawers to pull out Owen's harvard hoodie and a pair of sweatpants and headed towards the bathroom. Owen laid Daniel in his cot and stood back observing his tiny boy. Owen wondered who had put all the pieces of the puzzle of his life in perfect symmetry to create this picture. Two years ago he had been fighting alongside other men who had at the time left wives and sons and daughters as young as Daniel behind. He could not imagine living a military life now he was a husband and father. When he was honourably discharged he did not know who he was supposed to be or where he was supposed to be. He had nothing or no one to fight for. Now he knew. The discharge had been his way of dodging that enemy bullet and finding his way home. To a home that was created when he saw her again in the after, a home that had merged into a partnership and morphed into a family. Cristina had broken down the walls of his wars and let all the light flood back in. And now Daniel- he was the fire that was going to keep the light shining, he was beginning of their future.

"Owen, Come and talk to me." Cristina called out for her husband as she flicked on the shower.

Quickly shedding his jeans and shirt he pulled on his grey sweat pants and Seattle Grace Mercy West sweatshirt. He adjusted Daniel's blanket, lightly caressed his cheek and sauntered into the bathroom.

His wife was standing under the shower with shampoo bubbles running down her long thin neck, skimming her décolletage and over her swollen breasts. Her still curved stomach looked empty but the memory of their son resting there tugged at Owen's heart and if he was honest his groin. The way her tiny body had adapted to pregnancy had both fascinated him and turned him on.

_God, she is beautiful_. Owen thought to himself._ She has just given birth, simmer down._

Owen only had to catch the slightest glimpse of his wife to feel turned on and if the situation was not that she had been in labour less than 24 hours ago he would have been in that shower like a shot.

"Can you pass me the conditioner?" Owen located the coconut flavoured hair product and slid the shower door open and handed it to his wife. He sat down on the floor and watched her massage it in to her scalp.

"Do you want to watch a movie or something for a little while?" Owen enquired trying to push the very dirty thoughts he was having about his very naked and very desirable wife to the back of his mind.

"Ok, but I am choosing, no more action movies! No Transformers!" Her voice was slightly muffled by the water but the mirth in her tone was clear enough for Owen to pick up that she was teasing him

"Whatever you say. I owe you for the whole giving birth thing anyway."

"Oh yes you do Major Hunt. If you thought Iraq was tough you try squeezing a human being through your vagina without pain relief!" She opened the door and stepped out onto the bath mat, little drops of water falling from her long hair into tiny pools around her feet.

"I will be sure to try it some time!' He was laughing as he stood up and wrapped the big, fluffy grey towel around her and began to rub her dry.

Cristina looked up at this man and thought about how all the little things he did for her made her feel so loved. She had never experienced it before and in the beginning it had scared her. What if she let herself like it, allowed herself to lean on it and then she lost it? But now she had thrown herself into it so deeply that she knew it was real, it was rooted in the here and now and in the hereafter and the yet to come.

"Kiss me." She whispered.

Owen bent his head and softly grazed her lips with his. She ran her hands up to the sides of his face and held him close, her lips and tongue responding, wanting to taste him and enjoy him. Owen's hands clasped together around her waist and he deepened the kiss slightly, increasing the pressure and pulling her damp body closer to his.

She was the one to pull her lips away. One of them had to as they knew this could not follow its usual path into hours of either hot sex or sensual lovemaking. She smiled up and him, "It won't be long." She pecked a tiny kiss on his neck and extricated herself from his arms to pull on the clothes she had selected earlier. "Go and set the film up. Let's watch Schindler's List."

Owen walked out of the bathroom feeling a mixture of frustration, at not being able to finish what they started, and excitement, remembering how hot the sex had been that first time after their period of therapy induced celibacy.

Curled up on the sofa, the bowl of popcorn discarded and the film humming away in the background, Cristina was fighting to keep her eyes open, a wave of extreme tiredness had washed over her. She had been running on adrenaline all day and now she was depleted. Owen felt his wife's body getting heavier in his arms.

"Come on sleepy head, let's go to bed." Owen got up and lifted Cristina into his arms, much like the time he had lifted her off the ground outside the hospital with an icicle sticking out of her chest. He walked to their bedroom and glanced at the sleeping form of his baby boy in the half light. He placed Cristina on the bed and she sunk down into the soft, inviting pillows and fell asleep almost instantly. Not bothering to change out of his clothes, Owen laid down beside his wife and curled his body around her. Cristina and Daniel's breathing fell into perfect syncronicity and the perfect harmony lulled him into his own restful escape.

It was 2.30am. The night so far had been divided into short bursts of sleep and long bursts of crying. Owen had changed Daniel, walked around each room with him singing softly and Cristina had fed him twice, burped him and changed him but it wasn't working. Daniel was still crying his eyes out, he was getting more and more hot and bothered and Cristina was getting more and more distressed. Owen had gone into the kitchen to make them some strong coffee.

"Owen! Owen!" Cristina called out urgently, walking towards the kitchen.

"What? What's the matter?" Owen spin around, worried at what he might be faced with.

"What am I doing wrong? Why won't he stop! I am such a failure! I told you I couldn't do this!" Cristina, holding Daniel to her chest, swaying him gently, was bordering on hysterical. Tears were pooled in the corners of her eyes, threatening to flow like a waterfall down her cheeks. The little boys strangled cries were slightly muffled by the hoodie that smelt of his father's aftershave.

"Nothing, you are not doing anything wrong." Owen stretched across the counter and took his screeching son from her. "It's all just new isn't it buddy? You have to get used to being in these big open spaces after all that time cuddled up inside your amazing mummy." Daniel's little body struggled against his father's muscular arms and his cries once again intensified.

A thought suddenly popped into Owen's head. "Cristina put on a coat and some shoes and meet us downstairs."

Cristina looked puzzled but she was too tired to argue. Anything was worth a try at this point.

Moments later, Cristina decent the stairs and found Owen tucking Daniel into his stroller and wrapping two blankets round him, to protect him from the cold.

"Let's take him for a walk, see if that helps." Owen unlatched the heavy, original doors that encased the firehouse and motioned for his wife to step outside. Pulling her coat around her tighter, the chill in the air biting at the exposed skin on her face and hands, she waited for Owen to edge the stroller down the small ramp and join her on the sidewalk.

The streets were completely empty. A few cars and taxis moved in criss cross patterns along the main street, the lights from the lamp posts were dim and the space needle was illuminated in the distance. Cristina had never realised how beautiful Seattle was she had never had the chance to explore it, she would take the time to do it as Daniel got older.

Owen pushed the stroller and held Cristina's hand under his on the bar. They walked and walked, not taking note of how long they had been outside, just enjoying the simple pleasure of walking with their new baby. The mixture of the motion of the stroller and the biting fresh air were working, with each step Daniel's screams started fading to soft cries, then to a softer whimper until they finally transposed themselves into a contented snore.

"As much as i hate to massage your ego, you are a genius." Cristina laughed in disbelief that a walk was what her son had been asking for.

"Thank you." Owen acknowledged the compliment. They both kept one hand on the stroller, their little fingers touching and the other on each other, Cristina snaked her arm around his waist and Owen slung his arm around his wife's shoulder and gathered her into him. "shall we head back home?"

"Let's walk a little bit further." The triangle of people carried on down the street, no idea where they were heading but just happy to be on the journey together.


	20. Chapter 20the conference

"Don't go, stay here with us. Please!" Cristina whined as she fluttered her eyelashes at her husband and pouted.

She was sitting cross legged on the bed with 6 week old Daniel in her lap, watching Owen neatly folding clothes into a suitcase and his designer suits into the suit carrier.

"I wish I could but it is only 5 days. And you are very cute when you are whining!" Owen placed his hands on the mattress and stretched forward to kiss his wife. Cristina backed her head away from her husbands inviting lips.

"Screw cute! We are going to be lonely without you." Seeing her husband's blue eyes looking back at her tinged with a mixture of sadness and guilt, she relented and leaned in to his lips. The kiss was lingering- neither one wanting to break away as that meant that the moment that had to say goodbye was edging closer. Cristina held her husbands face in her hand and her lips danced over his, her other hand wrapped tighter around her son in her lap, making him part of the love shared between his parents.

Owen and Derek Shepherd were due to fly to Los Angeles in the very early hours of this already very early morning to speak at a medical conference on neurology and trauma. They had been working on the research and presentation for the best past of the last 6 months. Their wives exchanged many late night phone calls to locate their husbands when they had been working as the moon disappeared behind the clouds and were still working when it re-emerged in it's daytime outfit. The Chief was in his wooing mode and had made it clear that he was sending his 2 most respected male attendings, he could not leave Adele at this moment in time, to effectively sell their hospital to the leading lights in the surgical community. When The Chief wanted to woo in Los Angeles you went to woo in Los Angeles.

"I have to go" Owen's voice was low against the side of her face, and it was taking all his will power to physically tear himself away from his wife and their son. "I will call you when I land, ok?"

"Ok." Cristina whispered, getting up off the bed to hug her husband. She wanted to physically imprint his body onto hers, to take a tactile snapshot of the man she loved to carry with her for the next 4 days until he bought himself home. Owen held his wife close and dropped a kiss onto his son's soft black hair.

"Be a good boy for your mummy, buddy. Daddy will be back in 4 sleeps time." Owen could feel his wife's tiny body gently shaking and he knew she was crying. This was the first time they were going to be apart, separated by geography. "Shhh, shhh. It's alright. I am coming back."

She mumbled into his chest, "I know you are." Cristina sniffed and pulled herself together.

"Go on now, you don't want to miss the flight. I want you too but you don't so go!" She gave him one last kiss on the lips and Owen picked up his suit carrier and heaved the suitcase down the stairs. He gave her one last smile and mouthed _I love you_ and then the firehouse felt a fraction colder because it was empty of Owen.

Cristina heard the front doors slam shut and made her way over to the window and watched as the cab pulled away, Owen's red hair fading into the Seattle horizon.

"Well Danny boy, what shall we do now?" settling her son on her hip, Cristina walked aimlessly into the living room.

Cristina and Daniel had played on the mat on the floor, had a bath, had a feed and sat on the couch, Cristina eating cereal out of the box, her son sleeping across her chest. Owen had called quickly to say they had landed and were on the way to the hotel. Hearing his voice miles away had made her even more restless. She knew what she had to do, there was only one person who could halt this uneasy feeling. She reached out, being careful not to disturb her tired infant, picked up her mobile again and dialled.

1 hour later.

KNOCK! KNOCK! BANG! BANG!

"I'm coming...hang on." Meredith opened the door to find Cristina and Daniel on the doorstep. Owen's truck was parked in the driveway.

"Where do you keep your suitcases?" Handing a wriggling Daniel to a slightly bemused Meredith, Cristina started to run up the stairs, not waiting for an answer.

"In the hall closet. Why?" Meredith called after her friend. She looked at Daniel, noting how much he had changed in the last 6 weeks. He was heavier, his eyes were brighter and his little face lit up in a smile as his Aunt hugged him tightly into her chest, cradling his head as she began to climb the stairs."Come on let's go and see what mess your mother is making!"

The wardrobe doors were flung wide open, the drawers of the dresser had various items spilling out of them and a large grey suitcase lay on the bed with a frantic Cristina bundling armfuls of baby and adult clothes into it. Zola was standing bouncing and giggling in her cot, enjoying the chaos and the funny noises her Aunt Cristina was making as she fought with the zipper to close the overflowing case.

"What are you doing?" Meredith sighed as she took in the carnage that her bedroom had become. Meredith laid Daniel in the cot with Zola and the little girl settled herself down next to her miniature person, put her thumb in her mouth and watched the scene between the two mother's playing out in front of her.

"Packing!" Cristina looked at Meredith with a look that asked her best friend if she was really that dumb or just playing dumb. "We are booked on a flight to Los Angeles in 3 hours."

"Why? I thought we were having a week just us two and the two of them" Meredith waved her hand in the direction of the cot.

Walking round the bed, clapping both hands on Meredith's skinny shoulders to force her to look at her and really take in what she was saying, Cristina spoke in a very measured and serious tone. Meredith knew whatever Cristina was about to say she and Zola were, without a shadow of a doubt, going to be flying to Los Angeles today.

"I have not had sex with my very hot husband in 8 weeks! 8 weeks Meredith! I need you to help me get laid!" Pausing to check her friend was listening, Cristina shook Meredith gently as she continued, "If I have to drag you to the airport I will. I need sex!"

"You had me at 8 weeks!" Meredith grinned as Cristina pulled her into a relieved hug.

"Thank you! Best friend ever!"

20 minutes later 2 strollers, 4 suitcases, 2 babies fixed in car seats and 2 best friends were driving along the freeway towards the airport.

Cristina had butterflies in her stomach as she thought of seeing her husband and being physically in step with him again. Sex with him was so much more than scratching an itch, more than just satisfying hormonal urges. She wasn't going to kid herself- it was the hottest, absolute best sex of her life! But it was the fact that it was on a different emotional plane that made it so intense. It was an physical extension of her verbally telling him how much she loved him. It was about them becoming one, totally connected, their bodies speaking and answering in an exchange that only these two people would ever understand.

Now after knowing that their physical connection had produced their beautiful child, she believed that making love to Owen from this point on would be even more special. She just could not wait to be with him. Pressing her foot on the gas, she picked up the pace of the drive, desperate to get to all the warmth Los Angeles had to offer!

They checked in their bags, got through the security checks and pushed the strollers towards the gate to board. The flight was uneventful, both children slept and Meredith and Cristina chatted about the latest hospital gossip, not that either of them was particularly invested in it. They landed and made their way to grab a taxi to the hotel the medical conference had taken over for the week. She had phoned ahead to the hotel to arrange keys to their husbands rooms to be left for them, so they were through reception and up into their suites very speedily.

Meredith checked into the room Derek was occupying and had gone along the hallway to collect Daniel. She was going to wait for Derek in their room and then take the children to eat. The conference broke for dinner in about half an hour. Cristina ran through Daniel's feeding schedule and showed her where in his bag his bottles and diapers were. It hit her that this was the first time she was leaving him with someone who wasn't herself or Owen. It was a strange feeling- he was only going to be along the hall for a few hours, he would be back to sleep with them later that night. But the thought of him crying for her and him feeling abandoned made her breath catch in her throat._ You can do this_. _You and Owen need this_. She reasoned it out in her head as she handed her precious little man over to her person. Meredith waved the little boys hand at his mother and took him off down the hall, Zola crawling along beside them.

Back on the suite, Cristina took her time changing into the specially selected red lingerie. Owen always loved her in red, he said it reminded him of their wedding, more specifically their wedding night. She delighted in the knowledge that her choice would drive Owen wild. She clasped the lacy red, half cup bra around her slender back, her still engorged breasts testing the boundaries of the fabric. She pulled on the matching thong and wrapped the suspender belt around her hips. Her stomach was almost back to the shape it had been before her pregnancy but the small remaining curve reminded her of the huge life she was now living. Sitting on the bed, she stretched one leg out in front of her and slowly rolled the sheer stocking up and fixed it to the bottom of the suspender belt and repeated the sensual process on the other leg. She imagined Owen rolling the stockings back down her legs- the soft silky feel being replaced with the warm roughness of his palms. She shivered thinking about his touch exploring every inch of her body. She was fighting the urge to start without him but she knew it would be worth the wait. It always was. She let her curls tumble around her shoulders and laid across the bed on her side. Now just to wait till the man she loved walked through the door.

Owen was mentally exhausted. It had been an interesting day. They had been straight off the flight and had just enough time to dump their bags in their room and change before their first presentation of the conference. He and Derek had already made a lot of connections-influential people in the medical world both in the US and Europe who were interested and excited by their research. He and Derek made a good team professionally. It had to be said that Derek was the flashier, more publicly alluring of the partnership, but Owen was intelligent, sharp and an impassioned public speaker. Whilst he was enjoying the opportunity to expand his professional wings, they were being slightly clipped by the fact that Cristina was not there to share it with him. As his colleague and sometimes resident, he respected her drive. It drove him to be the best surgeon and teacher he could be. But he missed her most as his wife and the mother of his beautiful son. He had only been apart from his family for less than a day but he had a aching in his chest that he knew would only cease when he was physically close to them again. Climbing onto the elevator he took out his phone to call home. To hear her voice would help. The phone rang through to her voicemail. _Maybe she is feeding or bathing Daniel_.

_Hi this is Cristina. Leave me a message. If I want to I will call you back._

Owen chuckled at his wife's sarcastic message while he waited for the beep.

"Baby, it's me. I miss you both like crazy. Give Daniel a kiss from his daddy and call me when you get this. I love you. Take care now."

Owen hung up the phone and waited for the doors to open. He was going to have a quiet evening, tomorrow was another intense day of delivering the presentation and networking on behalf of Seattle Grace Mercy West. So he was just going to take a shower, unpack, order some room service and watch a DVD.

He pushed the key card into the slot and forced down the handle. The lock clicked opens and he slid back the door, beginning to relax at the thought of climbing into bed. When he saw the sight of his wife, resplendently lying across the bed, smiling seductively at him the idea of climbing into bed became all the more inviting.

"What are you doing here? Where is Daniel?" Owen was happily puzzled. He placed the key card on the table and walked towards the bed.

"I'm here because I missed you, I really missed you." The emphasis on the really was not lost on Owen. He had missed her too. Seven weeks had felt like an eternity, with only making out and some chaste over the bra action to keep them both going. "Daniel is with Meredith, who I forced to come to Florida so that I could make love to my husband."

He came to a stop directly in front of his wife, who was still lying down, and he could feel the electricity between them just as he had felt it when he first met her. The loaded looks they had exchanged in the exam room when she had stapled his leg shut and the frisson of desire as he had removed her icicle. Right now he wanted to bury himself in her to reignite their sexual connection.

"You 2 are way too close! Derek and I seem to have made a good first impression with the people that matter here." Knowing that his timing was way off base, Owen still wanted to share his professional achievements with his biggest supporter.

"Forget about the conference and just focus on what is in front of you" Cristina knelt up on the edge of the bed and ran her fingers along the lapels of Owen's dark grey suit. He looked so sexy in a suit, it gave him an air of authority which really turned her on. She had always had a thing for older men in positions of power, never more so than with her trauma god attending husband. Even though she knew every muscle, every sinew of the body that lay underneath the exquisite Italian tailoring the idea of unwrapping such a beautiful present after the post birth imposed hiatus gave her goosebumps. She pushed his jacket over his broad shoulders and he shook himself free, the jacket falling into a heap at his feet. The first casualty of his wife's battle plan for the evening. Lazily tracing her fingernails up and down his neck, she reached for his black tie and weaved her tiny geniuses around the knot, loosening and abandoning the decoration to get to the real treat.

"Believe me I am totally focused on my very, very hot, extremely desirable wife." Owen's tone was wanton and full of desire as his hands were caressing her waist, his fingers hooking under the lacy elastic of the suspender belt, he loved how the material felt against his touch. He desperately wanted to rip every stitch of what his wife was wearing off her and feel her naked body against his knowing that he could, once again, occupy every part of her but he also wanted to commit every detail of the picture in front of him to memory. Her body was even more beautiful to him, the marvel of what it had created, protected and gifted to the world made him want to bestow upon it all the love he had to offer.

The tie was discarded and her hands made their way to the front of his shirt. Cristina punctuated each opening of the buttons on the black shirt with a kiss on his firm, muscular chest. As she pulled the shirt down his arms she pressed her upper body to his and crashed their lips together in a kiss that set off fireworks. Their mouths devoured each other, their hands running over bare skin that fizzed with anticipation and longing. Cristina grasped for his belt buckle and quickly freed his waist from the suit trousers. She pushed them and his boxer shorts down and Owen clumsily stepped out of the, using his wife's mouth to steady himself. He bit into her lower lip as he temporarily lost balance but the searing pain only heightened Cristina's nerve endings. She needed him now!

"Anything can happen in LA right." Owen growled into her mouth, the vibrations from his voice reverberating at her core, moistening her centre ready for her husband.

"Like what?" her seductive tone was all her husband needed to hear, she was giving him permission to take charge. She had opened the conversation with the lingerie and now she was telling him to make his points.

Completely naked and totally turned on, Owen knelt on the bed in front of his wife. He lifted her legs and wrapped the around his waist, the silk of the stockings against his skin gave him goosebumps. Cristina could feel how hard he was against the naked skin of her ass, she wrapped her arms around his neck and continued to kiss him, plunging her tongue into a duel with his. Their mouths battled to quench the overwhelming desire they had for each other, both knowing it would be a long and slow operation over many planes and borders.

As the kiss intensified, Owen used the momentum and forced Cristina onto her back, the soft mattress enveloping the tangled bodies shutting their private conversation off from everything else that existed in their lives. This was about a husband and wife being just that- 2 people who loved and wanted each other to such a degree that to wait a moment longer to be together would be the cruelest pain.

From his vantage point as he towered over her, propping himself up on his forearms so she was not bearing all his weight, he drank in her beauty. He never knew it was possible to want someone so much. That every time could feel like the first time, a new exploration of territory before visited.

Owen began to move down her body- his hands, lips and tongue working in perfect harmony. Cristina writhed on the bed, lifting and twisting her body to meet every touch, kiss and lick he was offering her. He followed his map of kisses down until his head was between her legs. He glided his fingers down and began to massage her clit through the lace of the thong.

"Owen" Cristina's voice was a husky whisper, the friction of his fingers and the material against her clit was exquisite.

Feeling her begin to swell against his touch Owen nipped his teeth at the thin barrier between him and the land he wanted to lay claim to. He tugged at the material, working his way down until his mouth took her clit in and he began to slowly lick, wanting to open the stores she had just for him.

"I have missed you so much." Cristina moaned. She gripped on to his head, holding him firm, not wanting to ever have to live without the sensations he was forcing through her body. "Do not stop!"

Heeding her command, Owen increased the pressure and felt his wife gently bucking against him.

"I need you to be naked." Owen's breathe as he spoke fluttered around her opening, her insides constricted in a wave of pleasure and she felt a sensuous moisture slipping between her legs.

He unhooked one stocking from the suspender belt and gripped the top between his teeth. He slowly pulled it down with his mouth, the satin creating a static that only served to make her wanted to pull him inside her immediately. Cristina balled the sheet into her fists to keep her hands off her husband and allow him to continue giving her the benefits of his very best work. As the first stocking slipped off her toes, she let out a contented moan. She offered her other leg to him expecting more of the same, but Owen changed tactic. He unhooked the satin sheathing her leg from the suspender belt and in one swift pull it was separate from her body and slung over his shoulder. He pushed his flat palms up her soft legs and ran them around to the curve of her back deafly unhooking the suspender belt and tugging down the waistband of her thong. Cristina lifted her ass of the bed to help him remove both items and laid their naked from the waist down waiting to respond to her husbands counter attack.

"Sit up." Owen, gazing at his wife's form with a mixture of pride and smugness that she was all his, pushed himself up onto his knees and waited for Cristina to move herself face to face with him. "Cristina, tell me how much you want me?" He asked the question as he pulled her into his lap, hovering her, by now, dripping wet centre over his rock hard cock. Knowing that once she gave the answer he would pull her down on top of him and she would feel him give her everything he had, she answered in panting desperation.

"I want you a very great deal. I need you. I love you!" the words tumbled out of her mouth in a tone of desperate excitement.

"That works for me!" Owen covered her mouth with his and thrust himself up fast, deep and hard inside her. The force of his entry coupled with the length of time she had been without it made Cristina break her lips away from him and scream out loud, "Owen... Owen!"

Hearing his name escape from her lips made him tighten further, he sucked and bit at her neck, unhooked and tore off her bra and buried his face in her soft, full breasts as they fell into a familiar rhythm. Her hands dug into his back and she rippled her body to feel even more of him inside her.

"Don't stop, keep going, keep going!" Owen grunted out the words, which got muffled I to an even deeper tone by her breasts. He sucked and licked her nipples until they were rock hard, making her gasps and moans fill up the room.

Their breathing quickened and became more laboured as they clung to each other rocking, thrusting, both climbing towards a shared summit, desperately wanting to stay in perfect step the whole way.

"I'm close...Owen...I'm..." She was gasping for air, fighting every instinct that was telling her to just let go.

"Wait, just waaaaiiiiitttt." Owen gripped onto her hips, pulling her down further, anchoring her deeper, connecting her to him from the inside out. He was right on the edge.

"Cristina..." he gasped.

"I'm here, I'm right here!" His wife moaned, dropping her head back over her shoulders and feeling him pulsate inside her. She tightened, her walls gripping him, physically begging him to fill her up. As she felt her husband letting go, she pulled herself tighter into him, he responded by gripping her waist, his hands digging into the small of her back. They clung to each other as they shuddered with each mounting wave of the intensely delicious orgasm.

Holding on until their heart beats slowed into a steady duet and their breath came easier, they both mused on the fact that the temporary hiatus was over and the chemistry they had was even more electric and passionate than either one of them remembered.

Nuzzling his face into her hair, Owen dropped a few light kisses onto her neck and check. She smiled as she lent her head into it. "I'm glad you came!" he seductively spoke the double entendre into her ear.

"Mmmmmmmm, me too." she replied lazily. "Totally worth the air miles." She gave him a squeeze and kissed his forehead before she slid off him and climbed under the covers of the king sized hotel bed. Owen crawled over the space between them and scooped her into his arms and snuggled them both down into the pillows, facing each other.

They looked lovingly into each others eyes and lay together in contented, satisfied silence. They did not need any words, everything they wanted to express to each other had been done in the release they had shared moments before. Cristina had been right- if it was possible, making love to her husband was even better in the after Daniel. Each touch carried even deeper love, each kiss fuelled with even greater passion, each caress thanked each other for their part in the life they were creating.

"I love you and I could lay here with you all day and all night...but..." Owen hesitated, he did not want his wife to think he was going back on his word not to forget her now they were parents.

"But...you want to see your son, right?" Cristina was smiling. She had been thinking exactly the same thing. She craved her husband and their time together, just the two of them but something felt incomplete now when their beautiful little boy was not with them.

"Yes please!" She loved the way Owen's face lit up when he or anyone talked about Daniel. He could not hide his joy at being a father and she felt proud to be the woman who had given him such true, unadulterated happiness. There was a time she feared he would never be able to feel anything close to such pure, positive feelings. She had been petrified that his pain was too strong, his war wounds had cut too deep. But now that Owen was gone and all she was left with was a husband who was a man of great integrity and loyalty with an almost unending capacity to show and give love to her and their son. They had stepped out of the storm into the sun together and channelled their own rainbow through the clouds-Daniel- a delicate, rare phenomenon that had bought them both peace.

"I will go and get him. You order some room service, I am starving." Cristina planted a sweet kiss on Owen's lips and tossed back the duvet. Getting up and pulling on her thong and Owen's black shirt, Cristina grabbed the key card and opened the door.

"HOT!" Owen muttered to himself as his wife disappeared in to the hallway. Something about her in his clothes stirred his groin again. He knew that now the physically conversation had been started he had a lot more to say. _Eat some food first, Cristina later!_

Owen sat with the dirty thought for a few moments, before reaching over to the phone to order some room service.

Cristina walked a few doors down and knocked on Derek and Meredith's suite. Meredith opened the door with Daniel in her arms. The little boy instantly recognised his mother and just like his father his face and eyes brightened"

Spying her friend's attire she grinned, "LA agrees with you then?"

"Yep, mama got laid!" Cristina laughed out loud. "Now shut up and give me back my perfect son." She held out her arms for Meredith to place the little boy into them and he let put a little cry at being disturbed but instinctively moved his hands towards his mother's curls for comfort.

After arranging to meet with their families for breakfast before their husbands went off to be powerful doctors and they spent the day being mothers, Cristina left Meredith to go back their suite with the other person Owen was desperate to see.

Owen was sitting up resting against the pillows when Cristina and Daniel returned. He broke into a huge smile and the sight of his little boy in front of him. Daniel had fallen asleep but Owen gestured desperately for Cristina to pass him over. She climbed back into bed and transferred the snoring baby onto Owen's bare chest. Daniel's little palm flattened on his fathers pecs. The juxtaposition of big and strong and small and delicate really touched Cristina's heart. The two men in her life looked totally content and she imagined how the picture would stay the same as Daniel grew bigger and Owen grew older. She already knew this father son bond was going to be an impenetrable one and she didn't mind. All she wished and hoped for was that Daniel would have his father's presence and love in his life for all those important milestones- walking, talking, going to elementary school, going to college, falling in love, getting married- to Zola if Meredith had her way- to having his own children. Pushing that ever present sadness at all that her father had missed out on in her own life to one side, she threw herself back into these precious moments of her new found bliss of just being a needed mother and a desired wife.

"Don't forget me." Cristina joked as she lifted Owen's free arm around her. She wrapped her little body around his, entwining her legs and feet with his and laid her head on his chest, her forehead touching the forehead of her son.

"Never." Owen twisted his fingers throughout the ends of one of her black curls and rested his chin on the top of her head.

_This is what those girls in high school always wanted,_ she thought, squeezing herself in tighter to her family. Having the perfect home, with the perfect baby and the perfect guy. Simple. For the over achieving, fiercely ambitious Cristina Yang life had rarely been simple but now she got it, she finally understood. Loving and being loved by the person who knows you by heart, who fills in all the blanks and turns what you thought was black and white into all shades of grey that was simply all she needed.


	21. Chapter 21

**Authors note: this is a short bridging chapter to tie up LA. I thought I was going to write a couple of chapters of Owen, Cristina and Daniel on a kind of vacation but changed my mind. So this is a little something I had started and wanted to include as the first bit is from Daniel's point of view. Hope people are still enjoying the story, am loving writing it!xxxx**

It was 4am when Daniel flicked open his heavy lashes and stared at the ceiling. He let out a sleepy grizzle, in the hope of alerting someone to the fact that he was awake. His dark brown orbs scanned side to side, but the surroundings were unfamiliar. The picture he had been used to waking up to for the past 6 weeks had been replaced by this confusing mix of things some of which he knew to be his- the little blue teddy bear The bigger baby had given him- and things he thought belonged to this room, but who this room belonged to he did not yet know. He could hear the shuffle of feet on the luxurious hotel carpet and a deep cough coming from somewhere lower down to his right hand side. Usually the noises came from the left hand side and the sound of people walking was amplified by the wooden floors in his house. The footstep sounds stopped and he could see a figure in front of him, the tiny body wrapped up something that was bright, pure white, like light. He could make out the black curls as they fell forward, masking their owners face as her hands reached down into the cot, a place he imagined many other children had dreamt in, to lift him up to her eye level. The long fingers of his tiny hand grabbed a handful of the silky mass and gripped on tight. As the hands moved him towards her body and her slender arms anchored him close to her chest, his heart resting on top of her heart, his face turned into the nape of her neck, he recognised her scent dancing in his nostrils. He murmured contentedly, he was exactly where he was supposed to be-in the arms of the woman who had made him from scratch, who had opened her life to contain everything she has thought she never wanted and who he knew loved him immeasurably, unconditionally and absolutely. He was in the arms that would always be his safety- in the arms of his mother.

Cristina climbed back into the kingsized hotel bed and adjusted the bathrobe to latch her son's tiny mouth onto her breast. Her husband was snoring softly beside her and the rise and fall of his chest, with each slumbering breath, fell onto a rhythm with Daniel's hungry gulps. Sinking back into the pillows and lazily running her free hand over Owen's bare back, Cristina mused on how different her early morning routine had become over the past few years. Of course she was used to getting up in the early hours of the morning, that was part and parcel of being a surgical resident. In the before Owen, her first thoughts when she woke had been of getting to the hospital to trawl for the best cases. In the before Daniel, her waking thoughts had been making her first physical contact of that day with her husband, to re-affirm their love in each new day. Now in her after, after becoming a wife and a mother, lying in bed with these 2 men was all she wanted her mornings to consist of.

"morning." Owen stretched and rubbed his eyes before he turned onto his opposite side to be met by the sight of his wife feeding their son. He smiled sleepily at the beauty of the picture.

"morning." Cristina replied, stroking his cheek. She leaned her head down as he stretched his up to catch each others lips in a sweet kiss.

"so do you have plans?" Owen asked as he rested his head on her shoulder and stroked his son's head. He was spending the day at the conference. He and Derek were due to give their presentation once again that afternoon. Now his family were here he just wanted to put the do not disturb sign on the door and curl under the covers with them all day.

"hmm, right now my plan is to finish feeding Daniel, put him back to bed for a little more sleep and bury myself in my husband." Cristina dropped a kiss on the top of his red hair and entwined her fingers with his. Owen played with her fingers as they waited for Daniel to fill himself up.

With Daniel back in the crib sleeping soundly, Cristina snuggled into Owen's arms. They just enjoyed laying together, physically and emotionally connected, remembering all they had made it through to get to this point of being a happy family.

"Let's get in the shower, have some morning soapy sex and I'm gonna wash your hair." Owen kissed her passionately, the prologue to the guaranteed blockbuster to be told under the hot water of the hotel's power shower.

Allowing herself to be led to the bathroom, Cristina thought happily that the spontaneous trip to LA was turning out to be one the best decisions she had ever made!


	22. Chapter 22

The stress of a complex surgery lasted only as long as the procedure itself. The stress that came with meeting the needs of an unwell baby lasted all day!

7.30pm and finally after a 14 hour battle, silence had descended on the firehouse.

10 week old Daniel had not been his usual self today. He had woken with a mild fever. He was fussy, clingy and extremely demanding. Cristina was exhausted. She had spent the whole day carrying, rocking, soothing, cajoling and comforting her little boy but to no avail. He had whined, screamed and whimpered until he had fallen in to short bursts of exhausted sleep.

The firehouse was a mess, with discarded toys, baby manuals and several changes of baby sick cover clothes, in both infant and adult size, strewn across the floor and furniture. The changing table that stood at the end of their bed was dusted in a thick coating of baby powder and slightly congealed antiseptic cream.

Cristina was also a casualty - her hair was messily escaping from the band holding her curls on top of her head, she had not had chance to change out of her pyjama bottoms and Owen's harvard T-shirt, about the 6th clean top she had sported during the course of the day she feared would never end, hung loosely over her tiny frame, the neck so much bigger than her own that it sat exposing one of her slender shoulders.

There had been other moments, other days since they had come back from the spontaneous visit to Owen at the conference in LA that Cristina had felt lonely and isolated. Owen and Derek had been getting interesting offers to give guest lectures and run skills labs for students in various hospitals across the country and had spent maybe 5 days out of the last month in their own homes in Seattle. Cristina missed her husband- she missed falling asleep in his arms, she missed him cooking for her, she missed waking up to the sound of his heartbeat, she missed chatting with him and she missed the hot, the oh so hot sex.

Being at home with Daniel all day, every day was also taking a toll on her. She craved adult conversation and she wanted a few hours to just be Cristina. Not a wife, not a mother just plain old Dr Yang. When she was changing Daniel's diapers she often caught herself visualising cardio procedure on his torso, her hands involuntarily moving in the sequences her muscle memory dictated. How many surgeries had she missed? How many times when she had washed her hands after changing or before feeding Daniel should she have been scrubbing in or out of the OR? She hated to admit it but she was actually a little bit jealous of Owen. He got to fly around the country and be lauded as a trauma god, be written about as the next rising star of emergency medicine while she was stuck in Seattle with a screaming baby and sick in her hair. His surgical world was expanding, containing more than he ever imagined and her surgical world was closed, a spot on the horizon she was desperate to start the journey back to.

When these thoughts crept in she reminded herself of Daniel and how much he needed her to function so he could thrive. She needed his home not to be a hostile environment for him. She did not discuss these feelings with Owen, she wanted the little time they had together over this period to be spent focused on each other. She just had to grit her teeth and get through it until Owen had finished this month of being away and was back home to support her like he had promised.

But it was different today. Today was the first day since their son had burst into their lives that she had questioned whether she could really do this. She had felt today that same crippling fear that had made her question herself in the beginning of the pregnancy. No matter what she had tried to help him it was not good enough for her precious little boy who deserved nothing short of excellent. Maybe she wasn't built for this job and her son was starting to realise it. Was her love of cutting, her need to be a surgeon her way of fighting against being a mother? Was she already teetering on the verge of failure? She worried deeply about what was going to happen when she went back to work. She wished with all her heart that being a mother could be enough for her but she knew it never would be. She loved her son, that was in no doubt- he had opened her up to new possibility and a depth of feeling she had kept shut off. If Owen removing her icicle, literally and figuratively, had unscrewed the lid of the jar in which she stored her feelings Daniel had totally shattered it. But how she felt about being a surgeon, the other love of her life that she had almost lost, well, quite simply, it was who she was. She had decided that they would have to seriously consider Owen's suggestion of taking some extended leave when she returned to work. She hoped that by going back to what she knew would help her find some more confidence around her parenting ability and knowing Owen would be at home with Daniel made her believe that their son would not be missing out on crucial parental support and attention.

Finally Daniel had taken a full feed and was sleeping deeply in his cot. Cristina flopped down onto the sofa and resolved to discuss this matter with Owen when he got in. Realising she had not eaten anything since breakfast, she picked up her phone from under a pile of newspapers and texted her husband an SOS.

Meanwhile at Seattle Grace Mercy West...

Owen shook Chief Webber's hand and held the door open for the older gentleman to leave his office. Owen stood still, staring at the closed door, trying to take in what he had just agreed too. His face broke into a huge grin, this was big news and there were only 2 people he wanted to share it with. His phone vibrated in his back pocket. Seeing his wife's name flash up on the screen next to the envelope made him even more excited.

_Bring home pizza! Had horrible day! love _

Feeling a stab of concern over what might be waiting for him at home, Owen quickly changed out of his scrubs, locked up his office and headed towards the parking lot to go grab his wife's favourite pizza-salami and artichoke- and get back to his favourite place that housed his favourite people.

Owen walked into the firehouse and set the pizza box down on the kitchen counter. He surveyed the carnage that had taken over his once tidy home and sighed. He was too tired to sort it out now, it would have to wait till later. He spied Cristina lying on her back on the couch, her hands over her eyes, and his mouth curled into delicate smile when he saw she was wearing his Harvard t shirt. He walked over and eased his body down on top of her's and planted a kiss on her bare shoulder exposed by the baggy neck of the shirt. Instinctively, Cristina draped her arms around the strong back and pulled the love of her life closer to her. She kissed his neck on greeting and wrapped her legs around his waist to ensure he wasn't going anywhere.

"How was your day?" Owen enquired, settling into a comfortable position lying on his side with his head on Cristina's chest and his wife's limbs still wrapped round him.

"Where do I start! It was terrible, just one thing after another. Daniel had a fever when he woke up and was fussy and clingy all day. There was a lot of crying and vomiting and he was kinda off his feeds." Cristina's tone was sad and tired. She sighed deeply. "It was a really hard day."

"I am so sorry you had a bad day with him. I am here now and will take over with him tonight, ok?" Owen stroked her arm as he spoke.

"Ok." Cristina replied. She sensed now was not the moment to broach the subject of leave so she changed the subject. "Now where is this pizza? I'm starving." she began to move her body put from under her husband and he jumped off the couch and pulled her too her feet. He kissed her forehead before taking her hand and leading her into the kitchen.

When they reached the kitchen, neither Cristina or Owen noticed their spouse take a steadying breath before they opened their mouths to speak the words they could no longer keep inside- one of them due to feelings of unbidden excitement the other due to feelings of utter exhaustion and defeat.

"Richard just asked me to take over as interim Chief of surgery."

"Listen, I think you need to take that period of extended leave."

Owen had his head in the refrigerator, looking for 2 bottles of soda and Cristina was slightly distracted by prizing open the pizza box. A waft of hot steam hit her in the face as she peeled back the lid, at the same moment the couple spoke their news simultaneously, each one picking up that what the other was saying was somehow at odds with their own words. Looking at each other for clarification, Owen nodded for Cristina to repeat herself.

"I think, as you suggested, you need to take a period of extended leave to be with Daniel." Once she had finished she gestured for her husband to remake his point.

"Richard just asked me to take over as interim Chief of Surgery." Owen's excitement at sharing his news had dissipated. He knew what was coming as soon as he had heard Cristina's request about taking leave. He genuinely thought she hadn't wanted him too as they had not discussed it since he initially made the offer. They had agreed Daniel would start in daycare when Cristina resumed her spot in the residency programme and they would sort out the details as they went along. He presumed becoming Chief would just be another thing to throw into the mix of juggling career and family.

"You said no to that right? You have to say no that." Cristina asked the question and made the statement desperately as she searched his face for an answer, the feelings of hunger she had felt moments earlier replaced by a knot in her stomach that was sucking the air out of her lungs.

"I accepted the job". Owen looked down at the floor. He was being a coward in this moment, he did not dare meet his wife's eyes, he could already feel the temperature in the firehouse creeping up towards boiling point.

Silence.

"You did what?" she knew her son was sleeping but she could not control the volume of her voice as she sought clarification on what she had just been told.

"I accepted Richard's offer. I am the new interim Chief of surgery from Monday morning". Owen was trying to stifle his pride and excitement as he could sense his wife needed time to process this development.

"And when were you going to talk to me about this decision? You remember me right? your wife, the mother of your child!" Cristina was livid. "The person who you kicked out of the house for making a decision affecting both of us alone!"

Owen rolled his eyes, "This is not the same and you know it! No one's life is on the line here. It is a job, a title that is all!" he rubbed at his chest in an attempt to calm himself down. He did not want to argue over this, he really didn't understand why it looked as though a full blown showdown was about to ensue between him and the woman he loved.

The life on the line comment stung Cristina and her thoughts immediately turned to the baby sleeping in the next room. He was the innocent party here, they had to work this all out for his sake. _Just calm down and talk to your husband. Just talk Cristina!_

"Why is Chief Webber stepping aside?" lowering her voice, Cristina sat down at the dining room table and motioned for Owen to join her. He sat opposite her and placed his hands purposefully on the table top.

He looked into her eyes and considering his tone, spoke conversationally. "Richard wants to spend whatever time he has left with his wife, actually with his wife. I think that says a lot of how much he values his marriage."

Now it was Cristina's turn to roll her eyes. If she wasn't so angry she would think her husband was adorable for being so out of the loop on the personal lives of the people they worked so closely with for large portions of their lives. "Oh really. Let me tell you a few things about your hero, Richard Webber and his marriage".

"You don't know anything about his marriage. It is none of our business". It was a hospital wide known fact that Owen Hunt hated gossip and speculation and was never party to it. He really did not want to engage in this discussion now.

"Ok let's see, what I do know is Richard had an affair for years with Ellis Grey, Meredith's mom. I do know he is the reason why Thatcher left and probably why he is an alcoholic, who needed part of meredith's liver when he drank away his own. Ellis loved Richard till the day she died, she never got over him not choosing her over his own he wasn't interested in spending time with Adele then, was he?" Cristina's voice dripped with venom as she recalled a painful part of her other person's past. She had nothing against the Chief, he was a great leader and a hell of a surgeon but as a man not so totally deserving of the pedestal Owen had placed him so high up on. She understood that the military respected rank but to her respect was earned through actions as well as titles.

"Richard's private life has nothing to with me being the Chief! His alleged affair is nothing to do with us. He is an amazing physician!" Owen was not happy with the character assignation of his boss that he was being forced to engage in. He got up from the table and walked towards the living room.

Cristina was not letting this lie. She jumped up and stalked after him. She jabbed him in the back forcing him to spin around and shouted directly at him, waving her arms to further emphasise how annoyed he was making her.

"So as long as someone is good with a scalpel you are now you are an advocate for cheating? Do I have to be worried about you following exactly the same path? April Kepner has always had a thing for you so go deflower her and you see if I wait on the sidelines like Adele Webber for 30 years!"

"Don't be ridiculous! I would never cheat on you. I love you!" The sentence started as a dismissive retort but the 3 words he had always felt for this fierce but tiny woman came out as a tender declaration. Owen opened his arms and stepped forward, inviting his love to step into her familiar place.

"Obviously not enough!" Cristina scoffed as she stepped back increasing the distance between them

"What do you want from me here? Because frankly I thought you, my wife, would be pleased for me! How stupid of me!" Owen was being deliberately sarcastic, he wanted to get to the heart of what this was about quickly. He was tired and this was not how he had envisaged spending the evening.

"I want you to NOT be the Chief of surgery!" Cristina wailed. He just did not get it!

"So what you're jealous? You think you are the only one with ambition? The only one who has surgical skills that other people recognise?" Owen's low boom took Cristina by surprise. She stopped for a moment to fully consider what he had said. She was jealous but her reason for not wanting him not being chief was about Daniel, she reminded herself.

"No, it's not about that. I know you are a great surgeon even if it is in a less prestigious specialty!" She could not deny Owen's skills but she could not resist the dig about his specialty.

"I'm sorry?" Owen was immediately defensive, he was proud of what he did. He knew trauma was not pretty but it mattered. Bottom line, his quick skills and throw everything at it approach saved lives.

"Cardio is about skill and finesse. Trauma is more like Halloween at the butchers shop" Cristina spat at him.

Her dismissive attitude to his life's work pressed all his buttons and he exploded.

"Trauma surgery is about saving lives! Not letting over inflated egos get in the way of what is best for the patient! I am not the one chasing after Harper Avery's!"

"How dare you! I am a doctor I took an oath to save lives. I just am able to do it without leaving my patients looking like the brides of Frankenstein!" the exchange was becoming more heated as the couple traded shots aimed at hitting the other exactly where it would hurt the most.

"Trauma is a team sport , you do what you can where you can. I have saved people under fire but I guess that is meaningless to you!"

"You couldn't save George O'Malley though could you! Where was all your battlefield skill then!" She was goading him. She knew that one was below the belt but she was so hurt by his inability to see what she needed from her husband that she wanted to hurt him.

"That is not fair. I did everything I could to..." Owen's trailed off. That had stung. He had liked George very much. He had seen in him great potential and a true heart, perfectly designed for valour. He had fought so hard for him, harder than he had with any other patient.

"Well you have it all now don't you! The wife, the heir and now the hospital!". Cristina, desperate to move away from the image of George's face lying on the ICU, unrecognisable except for the kind green eyes, that was looming on front of her, jabbed her finger in her husband's face.

"yes I do! But why are you so pissed about it?" Owen gripped her wrist to try and slow her down, to make her focus on talking to him instead of screaming and partly to stop her poking his eye out.

"Cristina, I will take some leave, 6 months or a year. I will be the stay at home parent while you go be a surgeon. No scratch that Cristina I am going to work even more hours than I do already and leave you to raise a baby alone." She mimicked his voice in a patronising way as she fired the words back at him. Tears gathered on the corners of her eyes and she fought to hold them back. She would not give him the satisfaction.

"We can work this out! This won't affect our family or your career, I promise. Anyway it is only temporary!"

"Don't make promises you know you can't keep." she warned.

"You tell me then, Cristina. What do you want me to do? Talk to me!" Owen's question was just that. He was questioning why his own wife could not be happy for him, for them. This would benefit all of them financially. What was he missing? What was she not telling him? He thought they had got past the communication misfires that had plagued their early relationship but maybe not. What was she not telling him?

"Do what you have to do, Chief." she fixed him with a steely glare and almost choked as she addressed him by the term that from Monday everyone in his professional life would adopt towards him.

Cristina turned away from her husband, stamped down the stairs and walked out of the firehouse, not knowing where she was going. The tears she had been holding back started to tumble down her cheeks and she gave in, her body shaking from tears and the cold of the Seattle night against just the t- shirt and pyjama bottoms she had left in. Her sock covered feet just started to walk and kept on walking until she reached the front door of the low lying bungalow. She was 6 miles away from her husband and son but it felt as though they were standing on opposite sides of the world. She knocked on the door and waited for it to be opened by the owner of the house.

"Cristina?" the female voice enquired. "is everything ok?"

"No I don't think it is! I didn't know where else to go!" Cristina was still crying, not sure what any of this meant.

"Come here, come in." The sparkling blue eyes of the house's owner, opened the door wider and ushered her in.

"Thank you Mrs Hunt." Cristina smiled wearily at her mother-in-law as she stepped into the warmth of the bungalow and was greeted by the familiar, comforting smell of her husband.

Back at the firehouse, Owen stood rooted to the spot, staring at the stairs that had carried his wife away from their home. His happy news had turned sour and he was still utterly confused at Cristina's reaction. There had to be more too it, this couldn't just be about him being asked to take over a job temporarily. His wife was in pain and he couldn't reach her. He was scared, the last time she was hurt was after the shooting and it had nearly destroyed her. He had to fix this and he had to do it quickly, their son needed his mother and he needed his wife. He did not function well without her, he never had since the day he had met and fell in love with her. Daniel's cry shook Owen out of his trance and he walked into the bedroom. Reaching down to lift his mewling son into his arms, he looked into the tiny brown eyes identical to his mother's and felt a stab of pain through his heart. "It's ok buddy." He began to rock his son gently from side to side and kissed his soft black hair. "I know, you want your mummy...I do too." He sat down on the bed and hugged his boy tightly to his chest. "I do too."

That night 2 people slept alone, wishing they were together. One of them turning over in his head ways he could make this work so both of them were happy. The other thinking of how to tell her husband how being a mother was testing her to her limits and that she truthfully did not know how to do it anymore.

Their son, well he knew his mother was not near him. He could not smell her skin or the scent of her coconut conditioner. He could tell his father was sad, his heartbeat was a little slower than normal. Daniel had felt it when he had been holding him to his chest earlier. Daniel was not sure what a broken heart was but he did know that the beats of his own heart were missing the steady rhythm of the 2 people who loved him and each other so deeply. He knew it didn't feel right, he knew that it hurt and he knew that they would repair it. Mummy and Daddy had to repair it, they had to fix it.


	23. Chapter 23

The smell of freshly brewed coffee hung in the air as Cristina climbed out of the single bed and stepped into Mrs Hunt's kitchen.

She had slept the night in her husband's childhood bed. Thinking of his big muscular body lying on the child sized bed made her think of Owen curling up with Daniel at night when he moved from his cot to a bed- the father dwarfing his tiny son, protecting him from nightmares, easing him into a peaceful sleep filled with vivid dreams of far away lands. When she imagined the future with Daniel, Owen was always the strong presence of the 2 parents. She often imagined herself returning home to find Owen and their son reading books together or locked in conversation or battling it out playing a board game. She was always on the outside of their bond in her visions and that bothered her. Was she putting herself their subconsciously as punishment for wanting to go back to her other baby- surgery? Her head was killing her, it was full of questions, doubts and emotions pressing the Walls of her skull like it might explode.

"Can I fix you something to eat?" Without waiting for an answer Susan Hunt had placed a cup of coffee in front of her daughter-in-law and started pulling pans put of cupboards and bacon and eggs out of the fridge.

"Thank you, I am hungry." Cristina admitted, remembering that they had never actually got to eating the pizza Owen had bought home at her request. She took a long gulp of coffee from the cup, savouring the burn of the strong black liquid on the back of her throat.

As Cristina sat at the kitchen counter she noticed that the older woman moved with the same sense of purpose as her son, her head inclined slightly to the right as she concentrated on the task in front of her just like Owen's did. Cristina imagined a younger version of her husband growing up in this house. He had enjoyed the family life she had been deprived through divorce and parental death.

"I am sorry to have just turned up here last night." Cristina was apologetic as she traced the rim of the mug with her index finger.

"Cristina,we are family. Are you going to tell me what's wrong?" Susan set a plate of scrambled eggs and crispy bacon down in front of Cristina, who dug in eagerly. It was clear where Owen got his flair for producing meals full of delicious flavours. Susan hopped up on to the stool next to her at the counter top and cradled her own coffee cup in her careworn hands.

"We had a fight. I said a lot of things I didn't mean and didn't actually say the things I needed to."

"Owen offered at the beginning of the pregnancy to take some leave to look after Daniel and now he has been promoted to Chief of surgery." Cristina felt a little uncomfortable talking to Owen's mother about him when she had not even verbalised her true feelings to him. She had just screamed at him and practically told him he had not tried to save George. Cristina winced at the memory of that hurtful untruth she and spat at him. "I just can't understand why he would take on a job that will keep him away from his family when he was willing not so long ago to walk away from work for a year for his family."

"Owen has always had a strong sense of duty." Susan turned to Cristina and explained. The younger woman noticed that her blue eyes sparkled when she talked about her son. It made Cristina admire this woman. She had raised a great man and she was thankful for this woman who had bought Owen into the world. "Even as a child he took his role in the family as the older brother seriously. He just wants to do what is best for others. He feels obligated to help. I think that is why he joined the military, he felt like it was his duty as a man and as an American."

"can I ask you a question?" Cristina was never sure how TP broach the subject of Iraq. Owen never bought it up anymore and she did not want to dredge up any painful memories for him, but there was a lot she wanted to know about the part of his past that had left such a profound imprint on his future.

Susan nodded, her grey hair bouncing around her shoulders, and waited for Cristina to speak.

"How did you cope when Owen was in Iraq?"

"I prayed and I hoped. Every time the phone rung I begged and bargained with God that it was not to tell me my only son was dead. I was afraid to answer the door in case I was met with an army uniform and the letter every military family dreads being placed in their hands. Then I got angry- angry with the President for taking my son to fight, angry with Owen for enlisting and not considering the risks." As she spoke, Susan could feel those same emotions resurfacing. That time in her life she had stopped living, she was frozen in time just waiting in a limbo only the safe return of her little boy could end. She rook a deep breath and carried on, "I was just existing, i had to stop living. I could not go about normal things knowing that my baby, my boy was miles away in a desert and if he was hurt i couldn't help him. But I had to understand that it was what he wanted. The army was who he was meant to be. What he was built for."

As she listened to another mother speak with such a fierce love for her child, Cristina felt even more selfish at what she was not prepared to give up to be a mother. She was not prepared to give up living her life as a surgeon to just exist as a mother.

"I am a terrible mother." Cristina did not even realise she had spoken the words out loud, or that tears were slowly running down her cheeks.

"Honey, you are not a terrible mother." Susan rubbed her back and just let her cry. She knew how overwhelming being at home with a baby could be. Susan had raised 3 children and it never got easier. Being a mother was the hardest job in the world.

"I am just so afraid all the time. I am scared I am not good enough for Daniel and if I am not then I won't be good enough for Owen." Cristina chocked the words out through her tears and laid her head on the soft wool of the cardigan that encased her mother-in-law's bony shoulder. She imagined this was what it must be like to have a real mother, one who listened and comforted you instead of dragging you to malls to look at paint swatches. Would she be able to be a real mother to her child or would Daniel be forced to grow up in the OR gallery like Meredith, while his mother chased the coveted Harper Avery and his father was locked in the Chief's ivory tower balancing the hospitals books?

"Cristina, as a mom you will be scared for your child every day of their lives. Scared if they are safe, scared that the are happy, scared you are not there enough, scared you are too overprotective. There is no manual to being a mother, you have to do what is right for you. A happy mom makes a happy baby. Just go with your gut."

"I just don't know what to do!" Cristina was exhausted. She was tired of feeling like a failure and she did not want to get this wrong, there was too much at stake for her to make the wrong decision.

"Start with what you do know. Do you love Owen?"

"Yes I do, more than anything." Cristina knew that to be true with absolute certainty.

"Do you love Daniel."

The answer was the same, "Yes I do, more than anything."

"Do you want to make this work, being a surgeon and having a family."

"Yes I do, more than anything." The conviction in her tone shocked her. Cristina did not know the solution but she wanted to try to find one. She knew she had to stop running away. This situation was real and she had to face it.

"Well then you do know. You know what you need to do." Susan smiled at Cristina and squeezed her hand. They were just really starting to get to know each other but she liked her daughter-in-law very much. She could see how good she was for her son and even though she did not know all the details of how she had supported Owen through the dark times of his after, she knew that this young woman had given Owen the life she feared she would never get to see her son embrace. Susan had feared meeting a military plane carrying the body of her son home. Now she rejoiced at the fact her son's body was home but more importantly his soul was happy. And that was because of her love and the chance to love their son.

Cristina nodded slowly, returned a small smile to her Mother-in-law and asked quietly, "Owen and Daniel. Can you get me Owen and Daniel please?"

The phone in the firehouse rang. Owen dashed towards it to pick it up. He hoped to hear his wife's beautiful voice at the other end of the line. He had spent last night lying awake replaying every cross word they had exchanged and wondering when she would return from Meredith's. That was where she always fled to.

He picked up the phone and tentatively said "hello?"

"Owen, can you come over please?" His mother's voice questioned, not bothering with the pleasantries of hello, how are you.

"what's wrong? Are you ok?" his mother rarely asked him to come over. He immediately felt anxious.

"Let's just say that a mother needs to see her son." Susan hung up the phone.

It took Owen a few moments to make the connection that she was talking about Cristina.


	24. Chapter 24

Owen and Daniel arrived at his mother's house an hour later. It had taken Owen that long to change, dress and feed Daniel his bottle of expressed milk. The baby did not like the bottle and had spat and cried against the rubber teat, he wanted to be in the warm arms of his mother, enjoying those special moments of closeness he could not enjoy with anyone but her. Owen had finally given up and had to give in to using the pacifier to calm his son, after his screaming had reached fever pitch. He had packed a bag of clothes for his wife, unsure if she was staying where she was or if she would be coming home.

Owen drove the 6 mile journey with a sense of trepidation. It seemed that his relationship with Cristina had consisted of one or the other of them seeking the other out to gain clarification or make declarations anew after communicating at crossed purposes. Still after all this time, words often failed them and this argument had left them both battle scarred and wounded.

The doorbell rang and Cristina got up off the couch to open the door to the prospect of releasing the feelings she had been bottling up for the last month. She felt like she needed a few minutes on the vent, for the compressed steam to blow the thoughts into words and free them from her throat.

The door frame eased back and concerned azure blue eyes met contrite dark brown ones. The smaller chestnut eyes that sat at chest level, in a pair of strong arms, between the two shone in the delight of seeing the person who had been their home for 9 months in front of him.

Cristina's heart ached looking into her son's eyes and she was filled with an overwhelming sense of guilt. Guilt at running away last night and guilt of wanting to run back to work and not be with him.

Owen broke the silence and proffered the overnight night bag to his wife, "I bought you some clothes."

"Thanks." She took the bag, slung it over her shoulder and lifted Daniel out of Owen's arms and kissed his cheek. The little boy curled his toes at the tickle of her lips on his skin and snuggled into her as he always did. His little fingers tangled into her hair, Grabbing a fistful of curls. "I will go change."

"Alright." Owen watched his wife and son disappear into the bedroom he had slept in as a child. He closed the front door and walked into the kitchen. He found his mother sitting at the counter, not having moved since her earlier discussion with Cristina.

"Hey mom." He took a seat in the stool the next to her and kissed her cheek.

"Hi honey. You ok?" She stroked her eldest son's face lovingly. Talking with Cristina about Iraq made her all the more grateful to see him in front of her, whole and healed.

"I am confused, I don't know what is wrong or what I have done..." Owen exhaustedly ran his hand through his hair, rested his elbows on the table and propped his chin up on his clenched fists.

"Just hear her out. Just let her talk and you listen."

"Can I fix this mom?" Owen was genuinely afraid that the woman who inhabited his heart was slipping away.

"Yes you can. She loves you." His mother's comforting voice filled him with hope. Sometimes, no matter how old you were you just needed your mom to tell you everything was going to be ok.

Cristina emerged from the bed room 45 minutes later, dressed in the jeans, black vest and black waterfall cardigan she had found in the bag. She had brushed her teeth and scooped her hair into a ponytail. Daniel was asleep in her arms, having enjoyed a satisfying feed with his mother.

"Give me my beautiful grandson and off you go. Go and sort all this out. Then come back when you are ready." Susan was delighted at the prospect of spending the day with her first grandchild. "Take all the time you need."

Cristina looked at her husband and gave a small nod towards the door, as she handed her son to his grandmother. She kissed his head and whispered goodbye. "We will be back in time for his next feed but there is a bottle in his bag if he needs it."

Owen kissed his son and his mother and followed his wife out of the front door.

"Where do you want to go?" Owen asked quietly as they stood on the porch.

Reaching sideways and linking her fingers into his, looking straight forwards, she told him, "let's just walk and see where it takes us."

It was a bright day and they walked towards the waterfront in a slightly tense silence for about 10 minutes. They were still holding hands, the gesture felt so natural after all these years together that it would have been odd not to walk that way. Owen spied a small bar set back from the ferry docks and thought they should sit down and talk this thing out.

"Can I buy you a drink?" Owen felt awkward at asking a question you would ask someone you were dating to his wife and they both let out a small giggle at the stupidity of the situation they found themselves in.

They made their way inside and ordered 2 cups of coffee and sat down at a table outside. Neither wanted to be the first to broach the subject of the argument but Owen could not keep quiet a moment longer. He needed to find a way back to his wife, he needed them to be everything he had come to rely on them being.

"Cristina, talk to me. Just tell me what's wrong, please." Owen's tone was pleading he wanted to understand, he wanted to do anything he could to make this right whatever it was he unintentionally had made wrong.

"I want, no I need to go back to work." Cristina looked him in the eye and admitted her needs. She immediately felt like a weight had been lifted. He knew now, how he was going to react she was not so sure.

"You are going back to work, when Daniel is 12 weeks we already agreed that!" Owen was now totally confused. He furrowed his brow and hoped his wife would elaborate.

"I need to go back to work now. I can't wait 2 weeks." Cristina fiddled with the handle of the coffee mug and garnered the strength to expose how difficult she was finding the new role she was forever to be cast in. "I am lonely. I have no one to talk to all day. I crave cutting and surgery, the joy of scrubbing in, the chance to eat lunch without a baby in my lap. You get to do all those things and then come home and do the fun day stuff after i have had to deal with days like yesterday! Owen, I am drowning and you haven't even noticed. If I stay at home with Daniel alone any longer it is going to get worse and if it does I really do not know what the long term outcome will be for any of us."

Owen felt a pinch of anger towards his wife. Why had she kept all this inside? Why did she not talk to him? She was saying long term this could end in them being apart and she still didn't think to talk to him about it? As angry as he was at Cristina he was absolutely furious at himself- how had he not noticed? Had he been so wrapped up in his new found professional renaissance that he had neglected his most prized achievement- his family. Looking at his wife sadly, he stretched out his open palm and waited for her to slide her hand onto it. He stroked the back of her hand as he asked gently, "Why didn't you tell me? I thought you were happy!"

"I didn't tell you because you weren't here. You have been flying all over America with Derek Shepherd." she did not mean these words to come out in such a blaming tone as they did. She was simply stating fact. Before Owen could justify his absence, she continued. "Owen, I am happy, I love you both so much. But I am also unhappy. I feel like I am loosing myself again. I am not Cristina Yang anymore. I am Owen Hunt's wife or Daniel Hunt's mom and I love being those things but I don't love myself."

"I am sorry I wasn't there. Do you think I wanted to spend this month away from you both?" Owen was struggling to hold his own emotions in. He felt like he had failed. He had promised to be there and he hadn't been.

"i know you want to be there and I know that work gets in the way. That's why I freaked out about you becoming the chief."

"I will tell Richard that I can't take the job." Owen spoke in a measured way, trying to disguise his disappointment at not being able to test out leading the hospitals version of a battalion.

"No you will not!" Cristina had realised as she spoke about what she was not able to give up that she could not ask Owen too either. She did not want him to end up resenting her and feeling like she did. "you will be a great chief. You were built to be a leader, why do you think I married you!" Her joking tone, the smile on her full lips and the squeeze of her tiny hand around his made Owen relax. They could work this out! They were talking that was always the step they missed out!

"Please believe me, I want to be the best mother I can be, but to do that I need to keep something just for me. I need my work. But I am terrified that Daniel will end up like Meredith, being raised in the Walls of Seattle Grace Mercy West because I am just like Ellis, to selfish to be a real mother."

"Cristina, I just want you to be happy. I want Daniel to be happy. If that means you going back to work next week and us juggling our schedules then we will do that. I will take on less surgeries, i can maybe work from home some days and be with him or he can be with me in my new office. Cristina whether I am in the ER, the OR or the Chief's office my family is the most important thing in my world. Ok? We can make this work I promise. If it comes to it I will take the leave I offered, I mean it. Nothing will ever come before you and our son. But you have to talk to me, just tell me how you feel, tell me what you need." Owen inclined his head to the right, just like his mom she noted, as he spoke. His voice was full of love and Cristina once again felt safe enough to reach out and give him the whole truth of where she was.

"I just don't want to disappoint you and then for you to leave me." Cristina fiddled with her hair as she admitted to her husband the fear that underpinned everything. She could not lose this man. Ever. She would not, could not survive that.

Owen exhaled wearily and stood up. He walked around the table, bent over and took her face in his hands and kissed her. She melted into the kiss and grasped his face in her own two hands. Owen broke away momentarily and murmured against her lips, "when Re you going to get it Cristina Yang? I am not going anywhere without you."

Cristina could not think of any words that could convey just how much she loved him, so she wrapped her arms around his neck and pulled him back towards her lips. Just before she kissed him, she spoke to him in the flirty tone she knew he loved, "Well as i am going back to work, I had better get on the right side of the new chief of surgery then, right?" They both smiled as their lips and tongues began their familiar duet in perfect harmony.

As the ferryboats carried their passengers to their chosen destinations, Cristina and Owen shared a kiss that carried both all their love for each other and for each others understanding and all their commitment to their shared vision of the future and to being their for each other as they both shaped themselves once again into new roles. A working mother and a Chief of surgery, feeling their way through unchartered waters with only each other as a Life belt.


	25. Chapter 25

Owen and Cristina had walked back, hand in hand, from the ferry port to Susan's house and had spent the afternoon lying on the floor, looking at old photos of Owen and his sisters. Susan had shared stories about each of her 3 children, Owen, Amanda and Emily, and Cristina had learnt that her macho solider husband had slept with a soft bunny rabbit till he was 11 years old, he had suffered numerous fairy tea parties with his little sisters and after their father had died and he went away to Harvard medical school he had phoned home every night to read them both a bedtime story.

Hearing about Owen as a child made Cristina see him anew as an adult. She understood now how his family had shaped him into the man he was today. She could see how a father's pride had made him eager to strive to be the best surgeon he could be, how feeling the force of a mother's love as part of you had sustained him through fierce battle and indescribable loss in the arid planes of Iraq and how younger siblings awe had made him need to come home a hero. To Cristina, her husband was the true hero of her heart. He had vanquished the emptiness left by Burke, closed the wounds, healed the scars and shocked it back to life by the force of his feelings for her. He had made it beat in a rhythm stronger and surer than ever. He had filled each chamber, leaving only enough space for their son to come and fill it to the brim. She was whole heartedly in love and wholeheartedly loved for just exactly who she was. The only other person in her life she had ever shared her true heart with had been her father.

Owen watched his wife relaxed and happy in this family picture and mused on the fact that 3 generations of the Hunt family, a dynasty so defined by the physical losses of a father and a husband, the personal sacrifices of a peaceful nights sleep and the enduring love weaving their separate hearts into perfect harmony, today had welcomed another note to their song. This new note was strong, to some it may be hard on the ear, it may sound like discord, but to Owen it blended effortlessly. If his family was a song then his mother was the baseline- steady, dependable, always running underneath it all, a constant, Daniel was the melody- he bought the music its colours, the lilting ups and downs, the light and shade, he danced across the ears in patterns of delicate, quiet beauty and stirring, rousing passion. And Cristina, the new note, well she was the most important part of their song- the lyrics because for Owen she quite simply had bought his life meaning.

Lying on his side, his head resting on his hand, Owen knew the time was right. He would do it tonight!

"What are you smiling at?" Cristina rolled over on to her back on the floor and looked into her husband's serene face.

"Just thinking that I am a really lucky guy!" He bent over her and caught his lips in his. He pecked a kiss on them and nibbled on her bottom lip.

"Never a truer word spoken Dr Hunt!" Cristina gave him one last chasten kiss and began to get up on her feet. "I am going to go and feed Danny boy."

Cristina set off towards the bedroom, where Daniel was sleeping in his stroller. As soon as he heard the bedroom door shut, Owen jumped up and rushed into the kitchen. Susan was making some coffee on the counter top, she knew what Owen was planning for tonight and had been more than happy to agree to babysit her grandson. Owen was edgy, he did not want his wife to hear his conversation. He quickly pulled his mobile out of his pocket and stabbed at the keys to search online for a number. He hung up the phone a minute later with phase one of his plan locked down.

Next he dialled Meredith's number.

"Hello?"

"Hi it's Owen, I need a favour!" His tone was low and urgent. This was a covert operation and he needed to convey his orders clearly and effectively.

"Ok. As long as it doesn't involve a flight anywhere!" she joked, the last time she had inadvertently done a favour for Owen it had been to accompany his wife to LA so she could babysit Daniel. All so Cristina could give her husband his sexy post baby gift.

Ignoring the joke, he had a limited window of time to sort this out before Cristina returned from the bedroom, Owen rattled off what he needed Meredith to pick up from the firehouse and bring to his mom's in an hour. This was one time he was glad his wife's person had a key to their apartment.

"Thanks! See you then!" Owen had his back to the door that connected kitchen to living room and didn't notice his wife hovering behind him as he hung up the phone.

"You'll see who when?" Cristina asked as she watched Owen desperately fumbling, trying to shove his phone back into his jeans pocket. She had just fed Daniel and the little boy was curled up asleep in her arms, tuned into her heartbeat.

"Oh...uh...Derek...wants to play golf tomorrow...at the driving range." He stuttered nervously, he really was a terrible liar.

"Seriously?" Cristina furrowed her eyebrows and pursed her lips. She knew her husband was up to something, he and Derek only ever played golf on the roof of the hospital and They had already agreed to take Daniel to the aquarium. Letting it go for now, she pledged she would get to the bottom of this by the end of the night.

"Seriously." He leant down to silence her wonderings with a kiss. "Why don't you go and take a bath before dinner? Just relax." Owen took Daniel out of her arms and went to stand at the living room window.

"Why is your son acting so strange?" Cristina asked Susan as she handed her a cup of coffee.

"He's a man! That's all I've got!" Susan and Cristina shared a smile between themselves, bonded over their love of the muscular red headed man who was currently twitching with anticipation waiting for Meredith to arrive.

Cristina sipped at the strong coffee. "Is it ok to take a bath?" she did not want to be presumptuous but she did feel at home in this warm, kind woman's house.

"Of course! The towels are in the closet. Go!" Susan turned Cristina around by the shoulders and pushed her towards the bathroom. Cristina put up no resistance and was quickly undressed and submerged in the hot bubbles.

While Cristina was wallowing in her bubble bath, Meredith's car pulled up in the driveway. Owen dashed outside to meet her before there was any chance of Cristina catching him out.

"Thank you so much for this!" Owen opened the passenger side rear door and reached into the backseat to pick up his suit carrier and Cristina's overnight bag. He was still holding sleeping Daniel and he struggled to balance both the bags, the baby and kick the door shut with his foot.

"No problem! Have a great night!" Meredith knew Owen wanted her to go before her involvement in his plan was revealed to her best friend. She also had to get to the supermarket and then back to Derek and Zola before they both starved.

As he stood and watched Meredith's car disappear down the street, Owen felt like he was taking Cristina on a first date. In a way it was a new first he supposed, their first date as a mum and a dad. He was nervous, he wanted everything to be perfect. He turned to his mini ally, he knew he would get the truth out of him, "Do you think mummy will like the surprise?" Daniel let out a little sigh, as if he had considered and answered the question from the dream world he was currently visiting in his sleep.

"That works for me." Owen, Daniel and the 2 bags hopped up the porch steps and hurried back into the house.

30 minutes later and oblivious to her person's fleeting visit, Cristina's damp skin was wrapped in a white towel. She walked out of the bathroom and down the hall towards Owen's childhood room to change back into the pyjamas she had arrived in last night. She presumed that they would be staying for dinner with Owen's mom and then head home to the firehouse to put Daniel to bed.

She pushed open the bedroom door to find her husband standing by the bed, dressed in a black Gucci suit, a cornflower blue shirt, which made his eyes sparkle like precious gemstones and shiny, pointy toed black italian leather shoes. He had not bothered with a tie, opting to leave the shirt open to reveal the curve of his muscular chest. He looked devastatingly sexy and Cristina felt a surge of lust for the beautiful man who she was lucky enough to be loved by. It was only after drinking in this first unexpected sight that her eyes were drawn to the bed.

Owen had carefully laid out the clothes, accessories and make up bag that Meredith had chosen from their apartment for Cristina. A silk black one shouldered cocktail dress, red pashmina and black patent stilettos waited to be slipped over the nubile body of their owner. A black lace thong and matching strapless lace bra with red accents had been included in the package but Cristina was already thinking to herself that she may dispense with the added barrier of underwear this evening, basking in the certainty that whatever Owen had planned would end with her begging him to screw her into submission.

"Why is your favourite dress and shoes on the bed instead of in my closet?" She asked playfully as she stood up on tiptoes and clasped her arms around his neck.

"Well, I guessed my beautiful wife would not want to come out to dinner with me in yesterday's pyjamas!" Owen drew her into a hug, his fingers gently tracing the last few droplets of water that were clinging to her upper back.

"How do you know me so well, huh?" Her voice was full of mirth as she ran her hands down his chest and squeezed him tightly around the waist. "So where are we going?" It still amazed her how romantic her husband was. He always seemed to surprise her with thoughtful gestures that had it been anyone else she would have found sickening. She hated anything girly but with Owen he made her feel so feminine, so desirable that she found herself getting excited by being bought flowers, getting little I love you notes in her locker at work or on the refrigerator door and, like tonight being, taken out to dinner.

"It's a surprise! Get ready. I am going to go call a cab! 30 minutes, ok?" He kissed her on the cheek, his beard tickling her delicate skin, and strode out of the room.

Cristina shivered with anticipation as she dropped the towel to the floor. She stood naked for a moment looking at the dress she had worn on her birthday last year when they had gone out to dinner with Meredith and Derek and Callie and Arizona. That night had ended in Owen repeatedly giving her some very intimate gifts! Picking up the dress she caressed the silk between her fingers, remembering how Owen hands had slid all over her body on top of it causing the skin it sheathed to prickle with desire.

"Come on Yang! Just wait!" Cristina chastised herself out loud for allowing her thoughts to wander into dirty territory when she had the task of getting ready to focus on. She pulled the dress over her head, the tight material clinging to her slightly more shapely after Daniel figure. She pulled her hair up- she knew the sexual power her neck held for her husband- in a style reminiscent of her wedding day, slicked on some make up, draped the scarlet pashmina around her slender shoulders and eased her feet into the heels. All that was left on the bed was the underwear and the dark blue box that held her engagement and wedding rings. Owen had never pressed her to wear them, he knew she wasn't really a ring person. Sand knew tonight that she would feel naked without them, she wanted people to catch a glimpse of the platinum bands and the sparkling princess cut diamond and know that she had tied her whole life to the man who wore the matching promise on his own ring finger. She slipped the cool metal over her knuckle and they encased her finger in a perfect little hug and she felt complete.

She quickly bundled the underwear into the holdall Owen had bought over with her clothes this morning, pulled herself up to her full height and walked confidently on the high heels to meet her husband in the living room.

"Wow! You look..." Words failed him. Cristina had literally in that moment taken his breath away.

"I know!" She retorted kindly, she knew she looked great, she felt great! She loved that, because he saw her mostly in scrubs at work or sweats at home, he could still be lost for words on the rare occasions she wore a dress.

Susan came into the living room, cradling a very alert Daniel in her arms and audibly gasped when she saw her son and daughter in law. "Cristina, you look stunning."

"Thank you." Cristina blushed. Partly because she had never been positively complimented on her appearance by her own mother let alone anyone else's and also due to the fact that she felt embarrassed at the fact she wasn't wearing any underwear in front of her mother-in-law!

HONK! HONK!

Owen pulled back the curtain, "cab's here." He made his way across the room to say goodbye to his baby boy and whispered in his mom's ear, "thank you, see you in the morning."

Susan smiled up at her baby boy. Seeing the man he had become made her heart soar. He had found exactly the life he was born to have and he was living it with the person she believed he had been pre-destined to meet from the minute he entered the world. Susan believed in soul mates, hers had departed her life 15 years earlier, and she saw in the love between her son and this beautifully complicated woman that they could not continue to live without each other, to lose each other would leave them both just existing.

"Enjoy yourselves and don't worry about Daniel!" Susan jiggled her grandson in her arms.

Cristina smiled slightly sadly at her son and kissed his chubby cheek. His brown eyes looked like they were begging her not to leave him for the second night in a row and questioning whether she would return. "See you later honey." She kissed him again and left the words We love you dancing on his hair.

"You ready to go?" Owen held out his hand and wrapped Cristina's smaller one in to it when she slid her palm against his and nodded. With a last smile and wave back at their son Owen led Cristina towards the first part of the date he had planned.

The taxi sped through the streets of downtown Seattle heading towards the city centre. Sitting holding Owen's hand on the arms that was slung over her shoulders, Cristina was desperate to know where they were going.

"Just give me a little clue, please!" She wheedled, fiddling with his shirt buttons with her free hand.

"We are nearly there now." Owen silently resolved to not be swayed.

"I will tell you a secret for one clue!" Cristina knew she had a trump card at her disposal that would make him tell her everything.

"Ok, you first." He could play for time they were only a block away.

Turning her tiny body towards him she pulled his face down toward her and kissed him, a slow, soft kiss that she wanted to deepen but she pulled back and spoke in a low, husky tone against his ear, "I am only wearing your favourite dress and a pair of heels! Only a dress and heels." She put extra emphasis on the only to ensure he got the picture.

Owen let out a low, frustrated moan. He inwardly cursed taking a taxi, no hope of a scenic detour to seek physical clarity on the information his wife had just presented him with. Of all the things she could have chosen to tell him she chose the one thing that she knew would leave him desperate for her. She knew he would now spend the entire evening pushing wanton thoughts of his wife's naked body out of his head.

As Owen gripped his own thigh to stop his hand exploring the invitingly unguarded area between his wife's legs beneath the silk covering the taxi pulled up on the curb.

"We are here!" Owen exclaimed and practically jumped out of the taxi. The blast of cold night air hit him in the face, cooling his libido. _Hunt! Focus! Dinner first! _Owen silently drilled these thoughts into his brain the way the army drill Sargent repeatedly barks commands at his platoon.

Owen slipped the driver 20 dollars through his open window and walked around the car to open the door for his wife. He proffered his hand to help Cristina ease herself out of the car with the dignity that was required when you had no panties on.

"You remember this place right?" Owen wrapped himself around Cristina who was standing in front of him as they stood on the sidewalk in front of the most expensive hotel in Seattle- The Meridien.

"Of course I do. We spent our wedding night here." Cristina leaned back into Owen's chest and he leaned forward to place his chin on her shoulder.

"I love you." Owen's breath ticked her shoulder and she basked in the glow that those 3 words, that he had told her a thousand times, produced every time they escaped from his lips.

"I love you too. I always have and I always will." Cristina pulled his arms tighter around her waist as she spoke to remind him of the fact that neither one of them were going anywhere without each other. Owen sealed their bodies declaration with a trail of kisses down the side of her neck.

"Come on Mrs Hunt. Dinner time."


	26. Chapter 26

They had been led into the grand dining room at the heart of the hotel and their waiter had seated them at their table in a quiet corner of the dining room, by the window overlooking the entire city. The twinkling lights felt like they were shining just for them, adding to the romance of their intimate date.

The waiter had bought a bottle of champagne to the table, at Owen's request when he had booked the table on the phone earlier. Cristina had ordered the steak, while Owen had chosen the swordfish. The fishing trip with Derek had put her off eating fish for life after she and Owen had suffered eating 21 pounds of trout in various different dishes for what felt like an eternity.

As they waited for their meals they talked about Daniel and the new things he was doing, they mused on what specialties they thought the other residents would chose. They agreed Karev was obviously going to opt for paeds, reflecting that he had a surprising rapport with kids, Meredith for neuro. The others neither were totally sure. They discussed some past cases they had shared and made some plans for the holidays and even thought about taking a vacation.

Their conversation was briefly interrupted by the waiter setting down their artistically presented meals and was punctuated with pauses as they ate the first 2 courses and sipped the wickedly expensive champagne.

"That was delicious!" Cristina placed her knife and fork down on the empty plate.

"Can I tempt you to desert?" Owen asked the question genuinely, no flirty double meaning intended.

Cristina giggled and slipped her right foot out of its shoe. "Always" she purred as she ran her foot up his shin, along his thigh and up into his lap. She gently started to wiggle her toes against his already hardening groin.

The contact of her foot on his penis made him jump. He had not been expecting that! The table wobbled at the impact of Owen's reaction. The bubbles in the champagne glasses fizzed, the pressure building threatening to explode.

Cristina smiled inwardly at how easy it was get her husband hot and bothered! As quickly as she had initiated the foreplay she cut it off, removing her foot from his lap and slipping it slowly back into its patent decoration.

"You are such a tease." Owen shifted in his seat trying to shale off the physical imprint of his desire for the smug looking woman sitting opposite him

"That's why you love me!" Cristina winked at her grinning, yet clearly turned on husband as she rose from the table. Being ever the gentleman Owen mirrored her gesture. "I am just going to the bathroom. I'll be right back." The backs of their hands brushed lightly against each other as Cristina walked by the side of the table in the general direction of the restroom. The friction between their skin sending a small electric shock into their bodies.

Owen nodded and lowered himself back into he seat. He picked up his glass and took a large gulp of the champagne to prepare himself for the real reason he had bought her here. He reached into his inside pocket and pulled out a black ring box. Easing back the sprung lid the square cut sapphire caught the light and twinkled a myriad of colours in his field of vision. He was nervous, he honestly did not know if Cristina would like it or what the answer to his question would be. He rubbed his chest, feeling panic starting to constrict his lungs and forced himself to take some deep breaths. He snapped the box shut and placed his hands over it as he heard the clipping steps of high heels approaching the table.

Cristina noticed Owen looked panicked when she took her place in the seat opposite him. "Are you ok? What happened?"

"I'm fine." Owen blew out a long slow breathe and began to talk before she could interrupt. "Cristina, I love you."

"I love you too!" He was acting so strange, Cristina wanted to reassure him of a fact she hoped he was in no doubt about.

"I know. Just listen. You have given me the 2 things I treasure most in the world- your love and our son. So that is part of the reason I bought you here tonight- to thank you. I owe you my life and I will spend everyday of mine trying to repay you."

Cristina gazed at the man making these declarations of a lifetime of love with feelings of pure happiness and she believed every word he said, just as she had when he had promised her 40 years in Joe's bar when they weren't even really dating. That felt like a lifetime ago. He was beautiful in her eyes, inside and out, and she was thankful that he had never felt her unworthy of his love, even when she had reacted rashly in situations where she had struggled to see herself the way he saw her. She had felt he didn't truly understand her but she had been wrong. He understood her complicated layers and more than that he accepted them, didn't try to shape her into the person he wanted her to be. He loved her for exactly who she had been in her before, who she was now in the after and who she may yet become in the future.

"Thank you. And thank you for making me believe that I could do this, be a wife, be a mother and be an excellent surgeon. I know without a shadow of doubt that I could never have lived this huge life with anyone but you. I have always been waiting for you. You survived the war in the desert to come home and be my comrade in the war for this life we have made. I know I haven't always made things easy..." Her voice broke as she thought of how she had offered him to Teddy so she could nurture her gift and how she had tried to run from being a mother.

Owen reached one hand across the table, keeping the ring box concealed with the other. Her turmoil and regret were palpable as she sat there with her eyes cast down remembering some of the battles they had fought over the past years. At the time he had been hurt, upset, angry but now none of it mattered. "Hey, mistakes are how we learn right?" His lightly joking tone made her smile, she couldn't help herself. She looked up and nodded slowly.

Composing herself, she did not want to spoil the rest of their date, she asked "You said part of the reason why you bought me here, what's the other part?"

Owen briefly closed his eyes and swallowed. All of a sudden his throat was dry. Feeling his wife squeeze his hand gave him the strength he needed to ask her this question.

"I have a gift for you." He pushed the ring box across the table and left it sitting in the middle of her place setting. "Open it!" He urged.

She opened the box and immediately felt tears prickle her eyelashes. She could not stop them creeping down her cheeks, she was overwhelmed and rendered speechless at the beauty of both the ring and the gesture from her husband.

"It's an eternity ring, because that is how long I will love you for." Owen had found his voice now. "I chose a sapphire because the colour reminds me of attending scrubs and I know that you are going to be an exceptional surgeon. I have always believed in your skills and your drive and I will do everything in my power to help you achieve your dreams. I know who you are, I know what you want. I love you."

"It is stunning! Thank you Owen. I love you so much." Cristina's voice was heavy laden with emotion and each word vibrated with tears of joy.

"There is also a question that comes with the ring: Cristina Yang, will you marry me?"

"We are married in case you forgot! I wore red, you cried, Meredith got drunk, remember?" Cristina laughed. Her husband had gone mad obviously!

"I mean I want you to marry me again. In front of our mothers, with our son, I want to promise to love you, to support you in your bright professional future, to always be with you. I want to stand up with you and tie my life to you and Daniel all over again." Owen was totally sincere as he declared his wish with his wife.

When Owen had first proposed to her she had never uttered the actual word yes. She had been in the grip of PTSD after watching the loves of both her life and her best friends life shot in front of them, having a gun to her head and carrying out a procedure she had not been sure she could make a success. She had thought that marrying Owen would fix her, give her something to cling to. Her love for him was real but the wedding had been a distraction from the fear she was feeling. But now, she was healthy and whole again both because of the security of her marriage and in spite of it.

This was how she had always imagined marriage proposals to be. They had always been the couple to do things back to front she thought to herself. They had declared their love for each other before they had even shared a date, they had made love for the first time when they had broken up. They had a connection that had ignited on their first meeting, both of them bloodied and scarred, and deepened over time into something so integral to them singularly that they shaped their lives entirely around each other.

"Yes! Yes!" Cristina urgently let the words tumble out. This time to this proposal she wanted to give him the answer she had always wanted to give him but could not at the time. But now she could. Almost shouting she repeated herself, "Owen Hunt I will marry you!"

Owen leapt up from his seat and scooped Cristina up in his arms. Lifting her feet off the floor as she wrapped her arms around his neck their lips came together in passionate kiss that caused the elegant dining room, swept up in the romance of it all, to erupt into hearty applause. Owen and Cristina, neither of them particularly comfortable being the centre of social attention, broke away and smiled shyly at one another.

Owen placed Cristina's heeled feet back on the ground of the sumptuous carpet and growled into her ear, "Now about that desert!" He took her hand, picked up her pashmina, nodded to the waiter who knew what the next part of the surprise was and led his wife-to-be again out of the dining room towards his next surprise.


	27. Chapter 27

"Where are we going?" Cristina was almost running to keep up with Owen's purposeful gait as they moved along the corridor towards the elevator bank in the lobby.

"Wait. You'll like it, I promise!" The elevator arrived and he gestured for her to step on. He pressed the button for the top floor and they stood side by side, hands entwined, as they began their ascent.

Cristina decided she would stop trying to figure out what Owen had planned and just give in and go with it. She was just going to enjoy this time spent just the 2 of them. Part of her missed having Owen all to herself and she felt little stabs of longing on rare occasions when he was feeding or bathing Daniel, wishing his hands were holding her or that she was the sole object of his attention and affection. Yet the other part of her found it hard to remember a time before they had become the 3 of them. She had grown to love their evening routine of waiting for Owen to come home from the hospital to eat the dinner that he still had to cook (the cooking she had planned to learn had still not been factored into her day), taking Daniel for his evening stroll through the city, Owen reading him a story or playing him lullabies on the guitar while she took a bath and then curling up to talk on the sofa with a bottle of wine once their son was safely on his way to dreamland. He was an amazingly attentive and loving father. It made him even more sexy and desirable to her, if that were possible! She wondered what her son was doing now, she hoped he was still sleeping. She knew he had been earlier as she had secretly called Owen's mom to check on him when she had gone to the bathroom. She didn't want Owen to think she didn't trust Susan, so she didn't mention it. Cristina was shaken out of her silent revery by the lurch of the elevator as it reached it's destination.

Ping!

The heavy doors slid open and Cristina clapped her hands over her mouth in a gesture of absolute shock. How had he organised all this? When had he organised all this? That military training in secret recognisance certainly came in useful!

On the hotel rooftop was a table identical to the one they had just vacated in the dining room. It was laid for desert with 2 perfect chocolate soufflés and a bottle of champagne in an ice bucket to the side. A single long stem red Rose stood errect in a thin crystal vase and the strains of classical music softly moved across the night air.

The view of the city from this vantage point was absolutely breath taking, it was stunning. The space needle towered above all the other buildings, it's bright lights shining like a beacon. It was like the parent- wrapping the smaller buildings under it's glow sheltering them from threat or enemy. The ferryboats danced over the water in soothing patterns of welcome and parting, carrying lovers home to each other, children back to the bosoms of their families and visitors away with memories to pour over and stories to tell.

Owen and Cristina just stood for a few moments, taking in the view, happy to be sharing it with one another. Cristina was tucked in her familiar spot, under her husband's arm, both her own clasped around his waist, his chin resting on the top of her head.

"You are such an old romantic." Cristina murmured into his shoulder.

"You bring it out of me!" he murmured back into the top of her hair. Running his hand down her back, he motioned for her to move towards the table with him. He held out the chair for her to be seated and pored her a glass of champagne before sitting down himself. They clinked glasses toasting their new status as a once again engaged married couple and ate the soufflé, savouring every mouthful as part of the most wickedly 1delicious foreplay.

Cristina seductively licked every shred of the moist chocolate fluff off of her spoon and the tips of her fingers, Owen never took his eyes off his wife for a beat, as he licked his lips and ran his index finger around the rim of the champagne flute. Both noticed their breath shorten in anticipation. They both knew how this night was going to end- a hot, sweaty, satisfied tangle of limbs, their bodies imprinted with the physical communication of their emotional bond.

The opening notes of a song that summed up everything Owen had always felt for this woman but at times had been unable to verbalise began to play from the IPod he had requested be provided.

_Her eyes, her eyes make the stars look like their not shining, her hair, her hair falls perfectly without her trying. She's so beautiful and I tell her everyday._

"Dance with me?" Owen shrugged off his jacket and hung it over the back of the chair and held his open palm out across the table to help his wife out of her seat. He pulled her tiny body towards his muscular one and folded her into his strong arms. She rested her head on his chest as they began to sway in time to the melody that underscored the beautiful lyrics. Their bodies lilted in perfect sycronicity to the music, if one of them moved backwards the other rippled forwards in order to maintain total body contact.

_When I see your face, there's not a thing that I would change. Girl you're amazing just the way you are...and you know, you know, you know i'd never ask you to change, if perfect's what you're searching for then just stay the same..._

The song continued and the couple caressed and explored each others bodies as they kept dancing. Cristina ran her hands up and down Owen's back, along his broad shoulders and let her fingertips outline the planes of his face. Owen gently kissed each finger as they traced his lips and beard, he rubbed and squeezed her shapely ass, he kissed her bare shoulder exposed by the asymmetric neckline of the cocktail dress and he nuzzled his head into the side of his wife's neck and nibbled lightly.

"Mmmm..." Cristina moaned, stretching her head back to give him a larger surface area to weave his particular brand of magic on. She ran her fingers up into his hair and gripped on, wanting to root them both totally in this moment.

Owen's hands circled their way back down over her hips and down the outside of her thighs until they came to a stop just above her knee at the hem of her dress. He had not forgotten the dirty little secret she had shared with him in the cab ride over here and now he was more than ready to stake a claim on her most intimate area.

He scrapped his fingernails up the inside of her leg. The sensation made Cristina gasp with longing. She unbuttoned his shirt exposing his bare chest and licked the contours of his pecks. The fact that he had a clear path straight to her centre heightened both of their carnal desires, she began to moisten- he could feel the heat emanating from her core and she could feel the tightening of his cock against her stomach.

"You are a very bad, bad girl." Owen growled against her cheek, his fingers making their final steps upon the smooth, warm skin where her leg ended and her sex began. They kissed. A furious, heated, lustful kiss. Their tongues attacking and submitting in a power struggle fuelled entirely by selfish desire to drink in the most of each other. As the battle between their mouths raged, Owen fingers traced the lightest circle directly on the very tip of her already throbbing clit, causing her to begin to pant and groan against his mouth. His kisses could not silence her as the panting quickly turned into a pained cry of pleasure as his thumb took over the circular motion at an increased pressure and his forefinger and index finger plunged inside her.

Her knees felt weak and they buckled slightly. She wanted to drop to her knees in ecstasy. She felt Owen grip her waist and bite into her lips to keep her exactly where he wanted her. She fumbled for his zipper, yanked it down and drew out his thick, hard cock. She echoed the rhythm he was setting on her back to him, their hands dancing a seductive tango with each others heat, their lips a paso double- neither submitting as the fight for ultimate satisfaction raged on.

Gasping for air, they were forced to break their lips apart. Owen fixed her with an intense stare, his eyes washed a darker blue telling her in no uncertain terms that she was the one whose body fitted so perfectly with his, she was the one he wanted to release everything he had to give to and seek to satisfy her in all the ways she wanted.

"I need you... inside me...I want you...I love you!" Cristina's words came out as a desperate hissing. She reached up to grip his shoulders, her passion for this man gave her strength that at other times lay dormant in her petite frame. She pushed him back in to the chair and straddled her legs either side of him. He pushed up her dress until it was bunched around her hips, her aching centre desperate for him to occupy her. Owen lowered her down slowly onto his rock hard cock and as soon as he was buried inside her she rocked her hips slowly, grinding their bodies together, climbing towards a moment of intimate

"I'm here...I love you...I'm with you..." Owen's guttural groans were coming louder and faster, she could feel him hardening and tightening inside her, she pulled his head onto her chest. He pulled back, desperate to impale her even deeper. He reached down behind her knee and pulled her leg up to rest on his shoulder, the patent stiletto causing friction on the side of his face, the sharp tip of the heel grazing his ear. The soft skin of her shapely leg juxtaposed by the harsh material of the shoe encasing her slender foot turned him on, made him feel dirty and fully charged. He lent his wife back at the waist and kissed the back of her knee. It was a very sensitive spot on Cristina, she learnt that lesson early on in their sex life, so she bent her arms behind her and gripped onto his knees to balance herself against the onslaught of pleasure her husband was showering her with.

"OWEN!" she screamed out his name as he simultaneously pushed himself into her, with a force so dynamic she could have sworn the tip of his cock had touched her actual heart, and pulled her towards him. The Seattle air carried the sound of his name away, leaving behind all the meaning- he was the one she had found, the one she had briefly lost, the one now who she would hold on to for her whole life in the here and in the here after.

No words were needed to alert the other that they were both nearing the summit of their lovemaking. Their bodies, still for the most part clothed in a suit and a dress, writhed and clung to each other- fingernails digging and scratching, teeth biting, lips sucking at any piece of sweaty, tingling exposed flesh. Owen gave one last thrust and began to spill himself into his wife, releasing with it his love, his commitment and his promise to always be with her. Cristina let her head loll back over her shoulder, succumbing to her own orgasm, her walls tightening around her husband's length squeezing out every drop of what he was gifting to her and embedding her own physical vows of forever and always onto him.

They held each other close, tuning into the sound of each others hearts as they began the descent from their shared high. Owen rubbed her back and helped her slip off him and find a comfortable position sitting sideways in his lap.

Cristina held her man's face in the palms of her hands and softly kissed him once and pecked a second sweet kiss on his lips as she hugged him to her, his head resting on her shoulder. Curled up in his lap, just as she had been in the hours after the birth of their son, she smiled to herself as a thought waltzed into her consciousness at the exact same moment the same one skipped into Owen's...

_I love you! Best sex ever with our clothes on!_


	28. Chapter 28

**Authors note: just want to thank everyone for the reviews! Just wanted to respond to a couple of points from some of them. I am writing what I would like to see happen to this couple. This is a work of fiction, the situations are imagined in my head or written at the request of others reading them. The sex scenes are in no way commenting that all pregnant women are nymphomaniacs! I have 2 children of my own and whilst both my labours have been long (52 hours and 12 hours respectively!) i have friends who have had short first labours so it does happen. Both my children were very alert at 6 weeks, I believe babies to have an inner world that they express through crying etc, so writing from Daniel's perspective was a vehicle for exploring that!**

**Hope you all continue to read and review! (tweet me too if you want HannahAdsmtih) Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I am enjoying writing it, but if you don't you can tell me that too! Much love **

Chapter 28: the first day back…

Monday morning dawned like so many Seattle mornings- wet and grey! The 5am alarm was defunct as both Owen and Cristina had been woken by their son an hour earlier. Deciding they may as well get up and start their new getting ready to go to work routine, Owen had made them both breakfast as Cristina had fed and dressed Daniel.

Today Owen's mom was coming over to look after Daniel. Cristina knew that if Daniel was in daycare today she would not be able to focus on being a doctor. She needed to hit the ground running, there were fellowships at stake. She had to admit to herself that she was finding the thought of being away from Daniel all day, after being with him for the past 10 weeks, hard to reconcile. She had wanted this, to go back to work, and now she actually had to do it.

It was Owen's first day as Interim Chief and he was anxious. He knew how much the staff loved and respected Richard. He remembered how difficult it had been for Derek when he had taken the job. He knew the circumstances were different; Richard was not going to be in the hospital for the next month, so he guessed he would not have to try to lead while walking in the true Chief's shadow. There would be no big announcement, Richard had told the hospital on Friday before he left, Owen just wanted to get on with the job of saving lives. Just a change of office as far as he was concerned.

With both doctors showered and changed, Owen went to pick up his mother and Cristina took the time to say her farewell's to the tiny love of her life.

"Now Daniel. I need you to understand. Mummy needs to be a surgeon so she can be the best mummy she can be for you. When you are older you will get it, you will find things you love so much that to let them go would feel like dying a little bit. Like I love you, like I love Daddy, like I love surgery." She felt overwhelmed with emotions as she spoke into her son's ear, his tiny hands in their familiar place in her curls and his nose on her neck. "I will be thinking about you every minute and I promise I will be back, so this is not goodbye it is just see you later."

Daniel cooed softly as his mother kissed his cheek tenderly, imprinting all her love and protection for the day ahead onto him.

The beep of the truck horn cut into the moment and Cristona and Daniel descended the stairs to meet Susan and Owen. She handed the baby to her mother in law and briefly explained where everything was, she kissed her son again and watched the grandmother and grandson disappear in to the firehouse as she climbed into the passenger seat next to her husband.

"Ready to go?" Owen reached across and squeezed her hand on his. As she turned TP look at him, her eyes heavy with unshed tears and her lip quivering with indecision, he smiled softly at his wife, wanting to help her feel confident she was doing what was best for her and in turn best for Daniel.

Nodding, as much to convince herself as much as her husband, she blew out her breathe and said, "Let's go Chief Hunt!"

Cristina and the other residents were waiting in the locker room for April, the Chief Resident, to come and give out their assignments. Everyone had been glad to se her and asked the standard questions about the baby, how did she feel being back, was she still addicted to cardio. She had answered, noting to herself that it was nice to feel part of the group again, although Meredith wasn't there today, she had to meet with the FDA over the trial business. Cristina made a mental note to call her tonight to find out how it went.

Absentmindedly, Cristina fiddled with the hem of her scrub top. The material felt alien, she had got used to wearing her own clothes everyday. The uniformity of everyone looking exactly the same yet she was so different made her feel like she was in a twilight zone. Still waiting for April, she gave herself a mental kick up the butt, _You can do this Cristina. You were born to cut! _

"Okey dokey, everyone assignments!" April breezed into the locker room, clipboard in hand. "Jackson you are with Dr Torres in ortho, Alex paeds with Dr Robbins, I am doing paperwork, Dr Grey is out today." she looked at the clipboard to check she had covered everything. "oh sorry. Welcome back Dr Yang, you are with Dr Altman in cardio. Ok have a great day everyone!"

The other residents followed April out onto the halls of the hospital and split off to their various areas. They would be sure to cross paths over the course of the day either in the ER, the OR or the place with the food.

Cristina hung back and shook her head. That girl was way too perky! She pulled out her mobile to see a text message from Susan, she hastily opened it:

_To save you a call, Daniel is absolutely fine- fed, changed and sleeping! Sxx _

Smiling at how well her mother in law knew her already and at the fact that Daniel was still in his routine without her she got up and pulled on her lab coat, took a look at her professional self in the mirror, turned on her heel and went off to be a cardio god for the day until she went back to being a mum this evening.

Cristina had literally just found Teddy at the nurse's station up in the cardio wing when both their pagers sprung into action simultaneously.

_BEEP...BEEP... 911 the ER._

Cristina set off at a run down the hall, Teddy a few paces behind, and almost leapt into the elevator and hitting the button to carry them towards what she hoped was her first opportunity of the day to scrub into the place she had craved for the past 10 weeks.

Nothing could have prepared her for the sight that greeted her when they entered the trauma room containing her husband, Dr Bailey, Dr Robbins, Dr Karev, Dr Torres and Dr Avery.

The six doctors were all working furiously pushing in IVs, hanging bags of blood, taking x rays and blood, each shouting out orders and informing the others of what they were finding during their individual exams.

There was a woman about Cristina's age howling that she wasn't leaving and sobbing in the arms of Nurse Tyler in the corner.

Swallowing hard, she felt bile rise up in her throat and her stomach lurched as she moved closer to the exam table and caught a birds eye view of the patient and the true extent of the injuries, Cristina asked professionally, "What do we have?"

Owen, as the doctor running the case filled her in, "Isabella Harrison, aged 5. Unrestrained backseat passenger in MVC, unconscious since being cut out of car. Ultrasound indicates that abdominal organs have been forced into the chest cavity, internal bleeding and cardiac contusion, lacerations to the face and neck, waiting for Sloane to consult, and 2 broken legs."

Cristina, picked up the bag of blood being offered to any doctor available by the ER nurse and hung it in the rapid infuser. She looked down at the fragile little girl taking up only just half of the gurney. She was battered and bruised, her little hands flat against the sheet, her long blond hair highlighted with blood, her darker blonde eyelashes keeping her unconscious eyes shielded from the view of this horrifying reality.

"I was driving, I didn't know...I didn't know she had unclipped herself from the car seat...I didn't know!" Her mother was screaming to be heard above the medicine, she needed the doctors to know it was an accident. She would never knowingly hurt her child!

"Dr Yang, I am trying to listen to the heart. Deal with it!" Teddy was brusque, they needed to move quickly before this little girl let go of her tentative grip on life.

Cristina slid behind Avery and Bailey and took hold of the mother's arms and shook her quite forcefully, " look at me, look at me." Cristina demanded. "We know. Ok? It was an accident, we know, now we need you to let us do our job. Ok?"

The mother nodded, panting and gasping for air, trying to regulate her ragged breathing.

"What is your name?" Cristina urged. "We need to take a look at your injuries."

"Melanie." she wiped her eyes and sniffed composing herself as best she could.

"Ok Melanie. Nurse Tyler is going to take you next door and get a doctor to come and take a look alright?."

Too weak with worry to resist, Melanie allowed herself to be led away, casting a prayer up to God, begging him to keep her little girl safe, safer than she had been able to.

"Good work Yang!" Teddy was sincere in her praise for her resident, she had never really credited Cristina with that much compassion- surgical skill certainly but bedside manner not so much.

Amid the chaos of the trauma, Owen was wondering what his own son was doing. He had intended to call home but had not had any time. He knew he was safe with his grandmother but seeing this little girl, helpless and hurt, made him long to be near him. He thought it must be worse for Cristina, she had been with him every minute of every day for the last 10 weeks. Owen had seen how affected she and been by this patient when she entered the trauma room and how she had dealt so sensitively with her mother. Cristina knew how fiercely Melanie had wanted to protect Isabella, they were the same. They were both mother's who would do anything to take any pain away from their children. Motherhood had changed his wife in ways he never imagined he would see in her professional life. She had always been and always would be a once in a generation talent as a surgeon but now as a doctor she had that deeper layer of empathy and compassion. He hoped she could see it too. Glancing over to where Cristina was writingTeddy's orders in the chart he knew that the pride he felt in his wife now was nothing to the pride he was going to feel when she achieved all she wanted in her career. He knew it wasn't a matter of if, it was only a matter of when.

His head back in the trauma, every second critical in the decision as to whether this little girl's journey ended today or had the chance to go on in the years ahead, Owen bellowed, "Let's go! OR2! MOVE!"

_Surgery is like gambling. Stakes are high. The losses are huge but those gains, the wins are pure adrenaline. The surgeon wins, then gambles again, bets big, all in on the next game, Tue surgeon always plays red, aiming to walk away the victor, to snatch the prize-the life- back from the black- back from death. The roulette wheel turns. One miscalculation and the house of cards comes crashing down, leaving only pain and grief. They play to win, they sometimes hate the game, but to win they have to keep playing._

Teddy and Cristina walked out of OR2 three hours later. The cardio part of the procedure was over, the tiny heart was stable. Now it was up to Owen and Bailey to repair the multiple crush injuries and reposition the organs in the abdomen and Callie, with Jackson as assist, to fix her shattered legs. Arizona and Alex were still on hand as the paeds consult, at Owen's request.

As they pulled back the doors to the surgical waiting room, Isabella's anxious mother dashed towards them, desperately needing them to say her little girl was still fighting to live.

"How is she...is she..." Melanie was hysterical, the surgeons faces looked so serious. "please, no..."

"Her heart is stable. Dr Yang here and I were able to fix the tear. We now just have to wait for Dr Hunt to try to repair the internal injuries caused by the impact of the crash and Dr Torres to work on her legs. She is holding on." Teddy explained, "she is still critical but she's still with us."

Letting out a breath of not so much of relief but as resignation, Melanie sank down in the chair nearest to her and buried her throbbing head in her hands.

Teddy squeezed her shoulder and turned to walk back to the cardio wing, she had other surgeries slated for this afternoon and she needed to prep with her resident and the cardio fellow.

Hesitating momentarily, Cristina looked at the figure of a mother- totally alone and totally bereft at the thought that the person she had bought in to the world could be slipping away. "I am going to stay with her until they finish the surgery. Can you find someone else to scrub in on the valve replacement?"

Teddy nodded, thinking to herself, _Wow, Cristina Yang, giving up surgery! Motherhood had changed her!_

Cristina sat down next to Melanie. She didn't try to initiate a conversation, she just allowed her physical presence to speak to Melanie, telling her she was not alone.

"Do you have kids Dr Yang?" The silence was broken by Melanie's tear filled whispered.

"Yes I do. One. A son. Daniel. He is 10 weeks old, today is my first day back at work actually." Cristina spoke conversationally, not sure if the woman was taking it in but just trying to gently fill the worried silence.

"Do you have a picture of him? I need the distraction! I have never been good at waiting." Melanie half heartedly tried to laugh at her own faults but the tears kept silently falling.

Cristina reached into her lab coat to pull out the pocket book that contained drug conversions and medicine lists, tucked in the back was a photograph of Owen sitting on their couch holding Daniel on his chest.

"he is beautiful." Melanie gave a weak smile remembering her daughter being that small, totally reliant on her to meet her needs. Somehow when she had seen her on that exam table hours earlier she had appeared even smaller than a baby, dwarfed by the imprints of damage from the car.

"Thank you." Cristina felt her heart swell with pride at the compliment of her child. This feeling was followed quickly by sorrow- how would she cope if this was her? If her son was lying alone on an operating table, while doctors spoke impersonal medical speak over his tiny helpless body?

"Dr Hunt is your husband? That is him in the photograph?" Melanie tilted her head to try to piece the puzzle together in her head. She did better when she could identify who was who in situations she was talking about.

"Yes, yes it is."

"Would you tell me about him?" Cristina looked puzzled at the request, no patient's family had ever asked her a question like it before. "I think it might help me, you know, to know who the person is with his hands in my daughter's body...sorry, forget it...I don't mean to..." Melanie was embarrassed. This doctor probably thought she was totally deranged.

Cristina cut her off and began to talk, it was a subject that came easy. "Dr Hunt, Owen, is a great surgeon. He was a major in the army, he served in Iraq as a trauma surgeon, so believe me when I tell you he has given many injured sons and daughters back to their mother's and on those times he couldn't he has fought as hard as he could right to the very end to try. He will do everything, he will give your daughter everything he has to try and give her back to you. "

"Thank you." Melanie felt calmer knowing that her daughter's doctor was a good man, it gave her hope to hold onto. "So, the army... he is a real life hero then?"

"I guess he is." It was Cristina's turn to pray. She prayed that Owen's surgical skills would not desert him today, she prayed that he could give this mother her daughter back. Be _the hero Owen, please be the hero today!_

4 hours past with. O news. Cristina had gone to the cafeteria to get herself and Melanie coffee, she had persuaded Melanie to walk with her assuring her that she would let the OR know to page her if they had news. No page came as they sat on the bench outside Seattle Grace Mercy West watching visitors and ambulances coming and going. They walked back inside and sat again in the waiting room, Melanie telling Cristina about her daughter.

His green scrub cap came into view as he turned the corner from the OR and reached out for the door to the waiting room. Flanked by Avery and Karev, Owen walked purposefully and stopped in front of Melanie and his wife. His face did not belie good or bad news which made Cristina nervous.

Melanie slowly Rose to her feet.

"Mrs Harrison." Owen started. Melanie began to shake and Cristina put her arm around her shoulder and took her hand in her's. Owen, waiting until the mother had settled into his wife's supportive gesture continued, "We have repaired all the damage to Isabella's legs and organs. She is alive but the next 24 hours are critical. We are taking her to the paediatric ICU and Dr Shepherd, our head of neurosurgery will be coming along to try and wake her up layer this evening. We are optimistic that if she wakes up she will make a full recovery but it will take time."

Melanie let her tears flow unbidden, "she is alive?"

"She is alive." Cristina repeated, squeezing her shoulder. She smiled at her husband, she was so in awe of him at that moment- he had done it again, saved a case that other doctors would not have been able to. God she loved him.

Melanie flew into a surprised Owen's arms and, with a nod of blessing from Cristina, he hugged the woman tightly. "Your wife told me you were a real life hero! She is absolutely right! Thank you! Thank you!" she released herself from the doctors arms and smiled up at him gratefully.

Owen returned the smile, slightly embarrassed by the plaudits of both his patient's mother and his own wife, "Thank you. Would you like to go and see Isabella now?"

Gathering up her coat and handbag, eager to get to her child, Melanie turned to Cristina and kissed her on the cheek, she whispered, "You have a great man there, hold onto it. Thank you for everything."

Cristina watched the strong woman follow Karev and Avery down the hallway. She did not know how Melanie had managed to get through the day. She felt Owen wrap his arms around her waist. He was not usually very demonstrative at work, he liked to keep it professional, but today she was grateful for him reaching out to her. It had been a tough first day back!

"You ok?" Owen asked as he rested his head against her's.

"I think so. I'll feel better when I have held Daniel." This honest truth sat for a moment with them both.

"Me too. I just have to dictate the chart then we can go home to him. We can leave this day here and just be, the 3 of us." He kissed her temple and left her standing in the waiting room.

Cristina was thinking how strange it was that she had learnt so much about surgery today from sitting in the waiting room. The patients, or the procedures as she had before thought of them, were other people's children, loved ones, families and she the surgeon was responsible for taking care of them and bringing them back home. To remain invested in the patient to be able to perform the medicine to the best of your ability you had to remember that they were people's people.

She knew the puzzle that was a family could never be complete in the same way when important pieces were missing. Her Dad had left a huge hole that her step father, although they had a good relationship, could never fill exactly, he was a different shape, a different fit. The picture had to change to fit the new pieces.

But not Melanie's picture. Today the important piece in Cristina's puzzle had allowed Melanie and Isabella's picture to stay the same. Today they had won. The stakes had been high, they had gambled big and the payout had been a life.


	29. Chapter 29

**Authors note: this chapter is a slight deviation from the main Cristina and Owen story but I hope it still fits. It is mainly Daniel and Owen, but It also gave me a chance to write my other favourite character in GA and explore his importance as I see it within all the relationships at SGMW.**

**A plea also from you guys reading this story- please give me some ideas for chapters you would like to see for Cristina, Owen and Daniel. I really want to keep this going till hiatus is over but am feeling fatigued at generating situations! Give me the ideas and I will write lots of love always **

Cristina had been back in the residency programme for a month. Between herself, Owen, Owen's mom and the hospital daycare Daniel was thriving in his new daily routine. He had become a sociable baby that adapted easily to the various people who were becoming permanent fixtures in his life. If his parents were in long surgeries, they would send someone else to go check on their son up in the hospital playroom.

Daniel had started to recognise who was who in his dysfunctional hospital extended family. When someone arrived to visit him in the playroom, he took a moment to quizzically examine the faces and the bodies and match them with what he had worked out about the personality. Callie was the one who talked, she talked a lot, sometimes in a language he didn't understand if she was stressed. She also talked a lot about things called bones, he wasn't sure what they were! Jackson was the one with the bright green eyes, he had a girlfriend called Lexie. She would smother Daniel in kisses and cuddles, which he enjoyed but did feel that now he was getting bigger she would have to start to back off. His Aunt Meredith always came and off loaded about her sleepless nights with his miniature person, Zola, or lamented the lack of good surgical cases. She always ended her visits by telling Daniel he was a good listener.

Today was different. Today bought a visitor who he had not seen since the very day he was born, but the presence of this man immediately drew Daniel in. He knew he was an important figure, he was someone special.

Chief Webber had left his wife in the exam room with Derek to get her neurological assessment completed and had begun a slow walk around the halls and floors of the place that had defined every aspect of the last 35 years of his life. He had grown from a boy to a man inside these walls, he had cared for patients and colleagues like a father nurtures his own children, he had sacrificed personal rights of passage for professional status, he had hit rock bottom here and got back up again.

And now time was pushing against him. He was old, his wife was sick and what would he have? Surgery, his hunger for it, his total love of it, had sustained his life but now he had scrubbed out for the final time he allowed regrets for all that he could have been to take over the space the scalpel had filled.

He thought of Cristina Yang- driven, focused, a surgical robot or so he had thought when he first met her as an intern. But not now. She was striving to have it all- the surgical greatness of Ellis Grey but with the family life that Meredith's mother had fought so hard against. Ellis could never see how she could be anything other than a surgeon, her gift was her focus, it was the core of who she was, and Richard wondered if he had left Adele and been with Ellis if he could have given her what Owen had given Cristina- a life that could contain love for so much on so many levels.

He would never know what could have been on his road less travelled, he just had too keep moving. Richard stopped at the door of his old office and ran his hand thoughtfully over the plague engraved Chief of Surgery. Shaking off the sentimental urge to open the door and let the memories of his achievements and failures inside that room engulf him, he turned on his heel and carried on walking towards a part of the hospital he had never really had a need to go to.

The older man had come over to where Daniel was sitting in a baby bouncer. Daniel had taken in his kind face, his grey beard juxtaposed by his dark skin and his life worn brown eyes and instantly felt like this was a man he wanted to know more about. Something about his energy reminded Daniel of his own father.

Richard carried Daniel over to the rocking chair in the corner of the room and sat down. The chair fell into a soothing motion and Richard laid Daniel's back on his closed knees and took in his features. He had his mother's eyes, they looked thirsty for knowledge, hungry to take in every detail of his environment. He could tell this boy was smart, like his parents. Probably book smart like Cristina and experience smart like Owen. He had his father's openness to his face, a face that could not conceal emotion, a face that made you feel seen.

"Daniel Hunt." Richard's deep baritone softly lilted over the words he imparted to the baby. Daniel felt his eyelids droop and he fell into a contented sleep, feeling secure in the embrace of this man who was a familiar mystery. Daniel did not know who he was exactly but he knew that he mattered. "You are part of something special. A great big family I have raised and now your daddy is going to do the same. Your father is a good man- he's a great doctor, he has a soul that truly cares. And your mom, well she is going to be brilliant. She will save lots of lives and win awards, that I have known since the moment I met her. But now I also know she is going to give you a life outside of this hospital. You have made her see surgery for what it is- her work, you are her gift."

Richard rocked the chair and just sat, enjoying the calm. He did not know how long he had sat there in the playroom, before he felt compelled to tell Daniel something an elder had once told him as a child, " Remember this Daniel, Darkness is not the scary place in our lives. We have to sit in the dark sometimes so that when we get back to the light we can see all the colours."

Richard raised the sleeping baby to his eye level and tenderly kissed the little boy's forehead. He rested him back in the crook of his arms and Daniel instinctively gripped his finger, bonding himself to this Storyteller. Daniel just knew Richard Webber was someone he wanted to hold onto to.

Owen stood outside the open window of the playroom and smiled at the scene of a man he so respected with his son. As he listened to Richard's words, he imagined what his own father would have made of being part of this little boys life. Richard was the eternal parent of this hospital, whether he was physically in the building or not. He had nurtured and supported world class surgeons, investing in each of them his pride at their successes and frustration at their failures. He pushed them to be the best, not just for him and the reputation of his hospital but for themselves, for each of them to truly reach their full potential. Owen knew that the respect of Dr Richard Webber was sustaining and prized as an achievement in itself. Owen felt lucky to have worked for him as a surgeon, he could only ever hope to emulate his skill as a doctor. But Owen was so grateful to have known him as a man. It had been Richard who had bought him into Cristina's life and while Richard had his flaws, his own demons, just like Owen, Richard had fought them to move into the light with the people he held so dear.

"What you looking at?" Cristina asked as she came to a stop next to her reflective husband, weaving herself around the side of his body.

"I think Daniel has just met his grandfather."

Family is not just biology. It is more than our DNA, more than the collection of people our blood ties us to. Families are the people that we have no control over loving so fiercely. The people that seek out our hearts and match their rhythms to. Our families are ones we want to protect, the ones we bestow our knowledge on, the ones we respect. They are the people that go beyond what we could ever ask of them and they do it because their hearts tell them their is simply no other choice. The head of a great family never truly leaves you, they show you the way, let off the reigns and stand back, delighting in watching you soar.


	30. Chapter 30

_I do. Two small words, three letters embedded with infinite meaning. I do love you...I do need you...I do see you. Affirmations partners exchange in the half light of shared evenings, in the glare of enforced separation, in the dawns of new days spent taking the first tentative steps of a journey together or treading a familiar path travelled over many years in the bliss of each others company. For this couple it was a case of two words, three letters joining three hearts made by two people to one shared life. _

Cristina had got her original wedding dress altered into a sleek strapless column. The material enveloped her curves showing off the enviable figure that was most of the time swamped in scrubs. She wanted to keep part of their original day with her. Even though she had felt out of control of her own mind and body when she had tied her life to her man the first time around, she had been in total control of her heart. When she had said "I do", the organ that fascinated, excited and defined her professionally had quickened in her chest, flooded with pure adrenaline. Her heart had always known the truth; it could only beat for him. There had been others before who had tried to make it adapt to their own rhythm but, although she hadn't realised at the time, they were like pacemakers- a temporary fix, sustaining a combined beat for a pre defined period. Her heart had jarred, resisted, it was patiently waiting. Waiting for its piggy back transplant. This other heart, it was a match! The chances of rejection minimal. This heart was a perfect fit, it took some of the strain, it helped her to rest, to mend, to heal, and it helped her to live.

Today was the day she got to reaffirm the vows that she had promised when she had been scared of not knowing who she was without her gift or without him. She got to tell him again, now she was healed, that he had fixed her with his love, with his presence, with his support. She got to thank him for not giving up on her, even when she had disregarded his voice and hurt him, to thank him for keeping his promise of staying through it all.

Today was the day she became Mrs Hunt all over again.

Across on the other side of the city, the other heart was beating excitedly as he took in his reflection in the mirror of the penthouse suite at The Meridien hotel. The new black Dolce and Gabbana suit hung snugly over the contours of the muscular body, the opulent Italian fabric hugging his posture, making him feel masculine, confident and comfortable. The crisp White shirt dazzled, making his blue eyes sparkle like twinkling stars and the red silk tie, the same one he had worn almost 2 years ago to the date, sat comfortably in a Windsor knot at the base of his thick neck.

Today was the day he got to tell the people he had made his family how much he loved this woman and the life they had started to live together. He got to, for a second time, promise to protect her for eternity, to thank her for making him a father and to tie his whole being even tighter to her side.

Today was the day he became Mr Yang all over again.

_Back at the firehouse..._

"Cristina?" The voice was questioning, searching through the open space of the loft apartment for its only female inhabitant.

"Yes!" Cristina did not turn her head, she recognised the voice calling out to her instantly. She continued to look in the dressing table mirror, painstakingly applying her make up, wanting to look nothing but her very best for her husband. She was wrapped in Owen's bathrobe, desperate to breathe in his scent and feel closer to him. He had been defiant in wanting to do all the traditional things associated with a wedding they had missed out last time. So he had taken Daniel, boys together, to spend the night at the hotel where they would hold the ceremony and reception. They had parted on a lingering kiss and whispers of their private version of I love you and she had woken to a voicemail of Owen telling her he could not wait to marry her and the delivery of a huge bouquet of red roses.

Helen Rubenstein stood nervously under the arch where the doorframe had once stood, not sure whether to approach her daughter or not. Cristina immediately noticed the hot pink trouser suit her mother was decked out in. _Trust her to pick a colour that would clash with my dress!_ Cristina thought to herself derisively.

"Your friend Meredith let me in." her mother explained neutrally.

"Sit down." Cristina gestured toward the bed and turned back towards the mirror to start styling her hair. She was going to wear it half up, half down so Owen could get a glimpse of the neck he loved so much but also so he could run his hands through the loose curls, as had become his habit since the early days of their relationship.

"Your dress is beautiful." Helen ran her hand over the fabric before she sat on the furthest corner of the bed, legs crossed at the ankle in a true Beverly Hills lady who lunches way that made Cristina silently scoff at how little her mother had changed.

"It is the material of the dress I wore the first time. I had it altered." The response was stilted, Cristina really did not know what to say to the woman she had barely exchanged pleasantries with in the past 2 years.

"Really? You didn't wear a proper wedding gown?" Helen was exasperated that her daughter took such little pride in doing the things that normal women grew up dreaming about. Little girls dressed in net curtains, putting on their mother's make up simulating the perfect day when they got to be a princess and marry the handsome prince. Not her daughter, Cristina had never been interested in vanity or makes believe. She had buried herself in books, desperately seeking fact. Her intellect had been something her mother had resented as she did not understand it. She had hoped her daughter would become a ballerina. Cristina had been a dainty, gifted dancer who had loved her lessons and putting on little shows for her father but when he died it was as if the devastated little girl could not find any warmth to enjoy anything she had enjoyed with him. She became closed off, detached and cold. Helen felt she had tried to reach her but how many times do you offer someone your hand to have them bat it away, preferring to go it alone?

Helen acknowledged that her only child was beautiful but she didn't make the most of herself! The older woman looked at her daughter doing her hair and wondered if she had changed and become more feminine. But then as quickly as the musing had entered her head her real daughter chased it away.

"And there it is! How long did it take you mother," she mimicked looking at an imaginary watch on her wrist to drive home her point that her mother could not resist an opportunity to pick and criticise at the daughter who had not shaped her life into a carbon copy of her own.

"You looked so beautiful in the dress you would have married Preston Burke in, that is all I am trying to say to you." Helen was defensive. She knew her daughter to be difficult but she really did not want to argue with her. Their relationship was littered with cross words, misunderstandings and silent judgements.

"Why? Why would you bring him up on the day I am marrying someone else. You are a real piece of work mom!" Cristina spat the maternal address at the tiny woman perched like an uncomfortable child on the edge of her bed.

"I bring him up because, in truth, I still do not understand why you didn't go after him? He was handsome and brilliant, a real catch and now he is living a privileged life with another woman." Helen had found her voice and she was directing it squarely at her daughter. She wanted to know this young woman, who she had given financial security and a lavish LA upbringing. Helen seethed inwardly sometimes at how ungrateful and unpleasant her daughter was. She could only imagine what this Owen Hunt was like to put up with her!

"Because he left me at the altar!" Cristina let her annoyance at her mother's insensitivity get the better of her and screeched the painful truth of the event that now felt like it had happened to someone else in another lifetime, out into the tension filled air. "Because I didn't really love him."

Cristina realised she was shaking. With anger or upset she could decipher. She took some steadying breaths and say down on the parallel corner of the bed to her mother. Speaking quietly, like she had as a little girl she started to tell her mother the absolute truth.

"I never loved Burke, Mom. Not like I love Owen." Her final sentence was said in a tone that left no room for confusion. It was absolute.

Helen raised her eyes to meet her daughters. She had always known Cristina to be passionate about her work, but she had never heard her talk of another person with such conviction. It took her by surprise that the emotionally detached child, the unfeeling young adult had changed into this warmer, more open version of herself.

"Owen is a good man Mom, he may not be a world renowned surgeon, not yet anyway, but he is a man who cares deeply about the people he makes part of his life, he is fiercely loyal. He is the most amazing father. He doesn't care that I only wear dresses to weddings, or that I don't cook or that I would rather watch surgeries than Hollywood blockbusters! He loves me! He has never tried to change me… but I have changed." Cristina stopped and took a deep breath.

Why did she feel this overarching need for her mother to see who she really was? They had never really had a relationship that bordered on anything other than a biological connection. Maybe it was because of Daniel. She had vowed to her son that she would not be the mother that would try to shape him into what she wanted him to be but to help him find his own gifts, his own passions and even if she did not share them she would try to understand and take an interest. "Owen has experienced and seen things you wouldn't wish on your worst enemy but he loves me, like dad did, for me, for exactly who I am."

"Are you happy, Cristina?" Her mother reached out and gingerly offered her open palm to her daughter. "That is all I have ever wanted for my daughter, for you to be happy."

"Yes. I am. I am happy." Cristina slipped her hand into her mother's, her wedding and engagement ring drew both women's eyes. "I have my work, which I know you have never understood but it is part of me. After Dad died, I knew I had to learn how to fix hearts, if I had done more, if I had known what to do, I could have..."

Her mother cut her off, wanting to protect her child from re-opening these old wounds and also from her mascara running all down her perfectly made up face, "It was not your fault! You were a child, you did more than most adults could have done." Helen lifted Cristina's chin upwards and stoked her cheek lightly, "It was not your fault."

Cristina was rendered speechless for a few moments. The woman who had given birth to her was being a parent! It had taken her 33 years to get here but she was being an actual mother! Cristina felt a small sense of closure as a wave of peace overtook her. She felt a calm just sitting with her mother, she felt that maybe she could understand her a little bit more than she had before. Maybe they could move forward as mother and daughter and she could be a grandmother to Daniel, whatever that may look like.

"Cristina. I may not have said this enough but….." Her mother let go of her hand and dropped the hand on her cheek into her own lap, started fiddling with the sleeve of her jacket and looked down. "I am proud of you and I do love you."

Cristina could not recall a memory of hearing those words from her mother's lips directed towards her. She felt stunned and her body began to move almost without any cognitive direction. She slid across the bed and laid her head on her mother's bony shoulder.

"I do love you mom, just in my own way." She smiled weakly and wondered why it had taken this woman so long to put down the paint swatches and truly try to get on the same pages as her own daughter.

_2 hours later, at The Meridien Hotel..._

Meredith and Cristina stood facing each other behind the heavy oak doors that separated bride from groom. Meredith, her maid of honour, was dressed in a shorter black version of Cristina's column dress and Zola was wearing a white fairy inspired outfit with a red sash. In her chubby fist she held a small basket of red roses and her face was beaming with a smile that would tell everyone that she was delighted at the chance to dress up like a fairy and get lots of attention.

The weight of this moment was not lost on either of the doctors. This was Meredith really giving her person away to the man she had not always trusted to keep her best friend's heart safe. Now she did. Owen was Cristina's true soulmate, Meredith had just been keeping that spot warm in Cristina's life until he came to fill it.

"Well this is it now, Cristina Yang." Meredith was fighting back the tears as Zola clung to each of the older women's right hands.

"It is Meredith Grey...I have to tell you..." Cristina could not find the words. She sighed and fixed her friend with a look of willing, willing her to understand everything she could not say in this moment.

"I know." The unspoken declarations of their shared past passed between them. They clasped hands and the circle of a mother, a daughter and a godmother just stood and paused.

This was 2 best friends letting go and moving on. Moving past a place of having a relationship that at times excluded others, that others had envied and despised in equal measure from the outside looking in. There was no more secret coded language more often heard in playground games, it was time to play at being the grown ups. But now both of these dark and twisty people had come to see that they had outgrown the relationship as it existed in it's present form. They still would need each other, still would be part of each other. But now they both had husbands to truly share their joy and pain with. They both had children who relied on them to nurture and guide them, they had other people. Now each of them just needed a pure and simple best friend.

_Cristina Yang, you are getting married!_ The thought left a serene smile on her face, as Meredith pulled open the heavy door and the strains of chamber music started. Holding tightly to her best friend's hand, letting Zola walk ahead to adoring looks from the congregation, she put one foot in front of the other and started off down the aisle towards the 2 men who had changed her life.

TO BE CONTINUED...


	31. Chapter 31

_Forward motion can carry us further than we could ever imagine possible. The involuntary velocity can be frightening as we speed through, the background scenes changing quicker than the ability of the human eye to capture all the minutiae of the defining moments. But the high, the rush of just rolling down the hill, jumping off the cliff, hitting the accelerator and just going with it is exhilarating. All the more so when we have someone with us to share the fear and the joy. Someone to hold our hand and cling onto for dear life. So we let go and give ourselves over to the motion, we take a deep breathe, exchange a look of agreement, reach out to each other, count to 3 and just start to move._

The room set aside in The Meridian hotel for weddings boasted the clearest view of the waterfront and the expanse of the Seattle city scape. A hundred candles adorned the various surfaces and their flames mingled with the lights reflected from the ferryboats and street lamps created a warmly dim, intimate atmosphere. Dozens of red roses stood in vases, laid on the central table and were tied to the end chairs on each of the rows of seated guests. The room looked beautiful and the low murmurs of the guests chatting about the evening ahead, musing on what the bride would be wearing and generally absorbing the romantic atmosphere that only comes along with a wedding, added to the intimate ambience.

At the top of the aisle in front of the officiant, stood the groom and his 3 best men- Mark Sloane reprising the role he had undertaken the first time around, Derek Shepherd making amends for missing out on the honour due to an infrequently alluded to spell in jail and Daniel Hunt, dressed in a miniature version of his father's black italian suit and a red button down shirt, who sat happily on Derek's hip, gurgling and looking around at all the eyes focused in his direction.

The string quartet picked up their instruments and began to pluck the melody of a classical love aria. The musical notes weaved their way through the candle lit space and were accompanied briefly by the low creak of oak doors being prised open.

The bride, on the arm of her person, followed her delighted flower girl down the aisle her eyes firmly fixed on her again to be husband. She had to stop herself from dropping her hand tied bunch of red Rose heads and running into his arms, reminding her body that it had 40 years or more to seek it's resting place in his arms.

Owen felt like he had stopped breathing. His eyes widened to take in every detail of the beautiful vision walking, revealed from behind the oak doors, towards him. At their first wedding she had of course looked stunning but there was an air of her grief at everything she was struggling to cope with that had hung between them. They had walked down the aisle together, they had both been aware of the fact that she had needed his physical support to make it to the point of saying "I do." But not this time. This time Cristina was walking the path towards her future with a part of her past at her side ready to let her go and she was doing it on a sure footing. Surety of heart, surety of body and surety of mind. She knew who she was, she was a glorious trifector of a wife, a mother and a surgeon. She knew the only way to go was forwards with the 2 people who made her sure she was now exactly the woman she had been destined to be, even though she had never believed it for herself. Now she believed in true love, she put her faith in it in the exact same way she trusted science, she believed that this love could and would last because loving each other was a procedure they had both mastered.

"Friends and family we are gathered here tonight to re affirm the love and commitment between Owen and Cristina..." The officiant began the opening address as the couple stared in wonder at each other- wondering how they managed to find each other, wondering how they had held on to each other on the path littered with obstacles, hurt and danger and wondering where their shared life would take them next. They did not have to wonder what the other was thinking because it was the same,_ I love you, I have always loved you, I will always love you._

The assembled guests looked on at this, on paper, mismatched couple- the cold surgical robot and the friendly, once tortured soldier- and let themselves sit for a few quiet moments in their own personal worlds of wondering. Mark wondered if Cristina Yang, the woman who he had, before Hunt came into the picture, believed was shut off from any emotion, could get married why he was still alone, Teddy still wondered, somewhat jealously, why she had never been the one for Owen, what was it about Cristina's love that he needed above anything else? The Chief wondered sadly how much longer he would have the woman he loved by his side and how his life with his one great love, Ellis, would have panned out if he had taken the risk all those years ago. Alex and Bailey wondered what points in their own failed marriages they would have been at now had been able to repair them. The various ER and OR nurses, who idolised Owen, wondered what he would be like as a husband and how the sometimes terse surgical resident had managed to snag one of the few gentlemen left in the world. Susan Hunt wondered if she would have another grandchild from her only son and the woman she had come to love as a daughter. Helen Rubenstein wondered how her daughter had managed to open herself up to be more than just a set of academic accomplishments and surgical skills. None of them, however, wondered why this pair, that they knew so well individually, worked so well together. The traits they shared- Both passionate, stubborn, talented and the ones that were almost at odds with each other- Owen's inability to close himself off from the human aspect of the medicine while Cristina had,in the past, an inability to switch herself onto it, Cristina's unrelenting drive to be the best, to stand head and shoulders above all the others, while Owen was more comfortable to be part of a team that achieved greatness, to let others shine. But love was not confined by likeness or diversity, love chose for you the one who it knew would be able to know you deeply, accept you wholly and care for you totally. That is what their friends and family saw in this marriage- 2 imperfect people who just slotted together perfectly.

"Now Cristina and Owen will make their new promises to each other." The officiant stepped back, making way for the most important part of the ceremony.

As Owen began to speak the vows he had written the rest of the room fell away, he was alone with his love and this time the words did not fail. It was not cerebral it was cardiac- his head did not need to formulate or remember the lines because his heart just let them flow.

"Cristina, you saw me through my darkness, you forgave me when I hurt you, you picked me up from the bottom of my pain and carried me to the peak of our shared joy. To say I love you is not enough, to promise you eternity is too short. You have made me a father and a better man. I owe you my future for being the person who closed the door on my past. I know now that I survive for you, I survived because of you and my purpose is to live for you and our son. I love you Cristina Yang."

Cristina could not hold back the tears. When Burke had left her at the altar she had cried tears of relief at being set free from the bondage of his criticism and control. Even the remote thought of being free from Owen's love made sheer panic overtake her soul. Now she was crying unbidden tears of relief that she was tied, bound even tighter to the man who knew her by heart. She took a moment to gather herself before she began to speak.

"Owen, you thawed me, you removed my icicle and made me love you. When I fell apart you put me back together, when I tried to run you pulled me back. You made me your wife and showed me I could be a mother to our beautiful child. I could never have been those things for or with anyone but you. You have shown me a complete life and I am completely yours."

Owen had tears in his eyes. His wife had laid her once fragile heart bare, put her total trust in this relationship and let down her Walls. He now believed that she too believed that he would never leave her or ever intentionally hurt her. With these vows they had spoken the unspoken truth that they had known since Cristina had decided to have his child- we are a partnership, there is 2 of us, 2 sets of eyes sharing a vision of the future that both sets of feet want to follow.

"You may now kiss the bride."

Even before the officiant had spoken the words of permission, Owen had stepped forward and claimed his wife's lips for his own in a kiss that was charged with passion, lust, love and promise. The promise of physical pleasure later that night and of emotional companionship in all the later years of their lives. The room erupted into cheers and applause. This wedding, here tonight, had closed the chapter of the hospital shooting for all of them. They were all reshaped people, letting the forward motion pick up speed and carry them on.

Breaking apart, smiling at each other, Cristina motioned to Derek to hand her Daniel. With their son nestled between them, Cristina linked her fingers through Owen's and they started off on their walk back down the aisle, their lives tied together as parents and lovers, they did not know where their destination was but they were just going to enjoy being on the journey together.

_Upstairs in the grand ballroom..._.

After everyone had been seated to enjoy the lavish 3 course menu and a steady flow of champagne, Derek, in his role as the official best man, had the guests doubled over in laughter as he recounted stories of Meredith and Cristina's bed sharing antics, Owen's questionable golfing skills and even the time he had repaired a very famous Seattle monument- Mark Sloane's penis! Meredith had stood to thank Owen for taking care of her person and to remind him that she would kick his ass all over Seattle if he ever hurt her. She said it with a huge grin on her face but the steely glare in her eyes told Owen that she meant every word.

After a short period of mingling, the DJ started up the party portion of the evening. Jackson, Lexie, April and Alex hit the dance floor and threw themselves around with wild abandon, Callie and Arizona were chatting with Meredith and Derek, while Mark swung Zola around to whoops of delight from the little girl.

Owen's mother danced to Frank Sinatra with Chief Webber, thoroughly enjoying being twirled around the dance floor in the arms of a perfect gentleman. When the timeless classic had faded to make way for the more modern classic of Lady Gaga.

Susan and Richard had retired to a table on the side of the dance floor to talk about their shared interests-Owen, Cristina and Daniel. Whilst they were engaged in conversation, Susan really enjoying the attentions of a man for the first time since her husband had died and Richard revelled in being able to talk to a woman of his own age who he did not have to remind, prompt or repeat himself for, Zola and her doll, came and climbed into Richard's lap. Zola chattered and giggled at the attention being paid to her by both Richard and the woman she did not know, but she recognised the blue eyes to be just like her Uncle Owen's. Yawning, Zola settled herself against his chest and allowed herself to fall asleep clutching on to the bottom of his lilac tie. Like Daniel, she knew Richard to be her grandfather and she found a tranquil peace on his presence. Spying the scene, Cristina mused that if she did not know better she would think that Owen's mom had a bit of a twinkle in her eye for the chief. _Another one who has a thing for authority figures huh?_ She joked to herself. She could see why she liked her mother in law so much.

_On the opposite side of the ballroom..._

"Mrs Rubenstein, may I have this dance?" Owen offered his arm to the woman who gave him a glimpse of what his wife may look like in the future. Diminutive in stature, fierce of opinion and almost alarmingly beautiful.

"It would be a pleasure." Rising to her feet and handing her delicate clutch bag to her more reserved husband, Dr Saul Rubenstein, he was a dentist in Beverley Hills, a fact that everyone at the wedding now knew!

Taking up a proper ballroom hold in the middle of the dance floor, Helen was quietly impressed by her son-in-laws masterful grace. His bulky stature belied such ease and fluidity of movement as Owen led her through the lilting rise and fall of a dreamy waltz, keeping a perfect 3 beat rhythm, whilst they talked.

"You have changed her." Helen looked into the blue eyes and could admit that she totally appreciated why Cristina had been so attracted to this man. His rough, chiselled masculinity made him sensually alluring and his broad, muscular frame made Helen feel like she wanted to be swept away by this hero, reminiscent of the white knight in the princess fairy stories she had been read as a child. "She is warm, she is actually happy, she truly feels."

"She saved me." Owen did not know what details of their relationship Cristina had shared with her mother but he wanted to tell her how her daughter had totally changed the course of his battle heavy journey and breathed a new life into him. "I came back from the war totally broken, I was a complete mess. But Cristina saw through all of the damage and made me want to be better. If she was offering me her love I had to deserve it."

"My daughter does not give her love easily, believe me." There was a sadness in the way this mother spoke about the fragile bond that existed between her and her own child. Helen could see as she glanced across to where Cristina was sitting cradling Daniel, talking to Owen's mother, that already her daughter had found a bond with her baby in 4 months that they could never hope to replicate after 33 years of practice.

Following his mother-in-laws gaze, he explained quietly, "Cristina is a great mother, she didn't think she could be but she is. Daniel adores her."

"Thank you for telling me that." Helen did not look up as she spoke for fear of him seeing her eyes filled with regret at not being an adored mother worthy of her daughter's love. Owen made no verbal reply but they continued to dance. The steady, comforting rhythm of the waltz bonding a son-in-law and a mother- in- law in a few moments of easy connection.

Watching her husband dancing with her mother was slightly weirding Cristina out. She had come back from feeding Daniel up in their suite to find her mother swaying in Owen's arms and they looked to be locked in a deep conversation. A conversation she knew was about her, she just hoped her mother wasn't banging on about Burke or something as equally in appropriate from her childhood.

She felt a hand on her bare shoulder and twisted around to see who it was. Susan Hunt's kind blue eyes smiled down at her as she slid into the seat beside her.

"Have you enjoyed the evening so far?" Cristina asked.

"Very much so. Richard Webber is a fascinating man." Susan

Smiling knowingly at this admission, Cristina nodded and turned towards the dance floor to see what was now occurring between her mother and her husband.

As the final bars of the music drew their dance to it's crescendo, Owen bent his head and kissed Helen on the cheek, "Thank you for being here tonight and thank you for the dance." He smiled as he once again offered his arm to escort Helen over to where the rest of their family were sitting.

Helen took a seat next to Susan and began to make polite small talk about how beautiful the ceremony had been, how sweet Zola was and complimented each other on their respective children.

"I think it is about time I danced with my wife." Owen took her hand and pulled her gently to her feet, Daniel still curled up in her other arm. Cristina turned back towards their mothers and automatically turned towards Susan to hand Daniel over to her but then stopped. It felt right, after their talk earlier, to take a step towards her own mother, to offer her a open door and hope she would come inside.

"Mom, would you?" Cristina nodded down to Daniel and motioned with her eyes that she was asking her to hold him.

"Of course!" Helen was moved. Her daughter, really offering her a chance to know her grandson and maybe in turn to get to know her better also. She scooped up her grandson and began to coo over him in such a sweet way that Cristina was amazed and felt sure her mouth was gapping open.

Daniel felt a change. He knew he had left his mother's arms, he felt a little colder and he opened his eyes to find out where he was now. He looked up towards the face of his new protector and saw his own eyes reflected back at him, bigger and darker but the same shape, with the same expression of love. This face looked like his mother, these arms held him tightly pulling him towards her heart. The beats were a variation on the heartbeats he had heard for the 9 months before he had made his appearance in the world of his parents. He knew this was the woman who had given him the most important woman in his own life. Daniel curled himself sideways, slotting himself in deeper to the embrace, thanking his grandmother for his gift.

_On the dance floor..._

"I have a wedding present for you." Owen mumbled into his wife's ear. "It is ready to be unwrapped up in our suite."

"Aww, so it is not you then!" Cristina feigned disappointment, she knew all too well that the wedding night would not go by without being thoroughly enjoyed by both parties. She had her arms wrapped around Owen's neck and her body pressed tightly into his as they danced, barely moving to the music, just letting the melody take them out of time and out of space into their own private cacoon, totally focused on each other.

"Correction, I have 2 gifts for you waiting to be unwrapped upstairs!" Owen smirked and grazed a kiss across her warm lips.

"Come on then. It is tradition for the bride and groom to leave the party early!" Seductively Cristina whispered the words into his mouth between kisses. She ran her flat palms down the outside of his strong arms and pulled on her husbands hand and led him out of the ballroom towards the elevators.

The elevator carried them quickly to the penthouse, up to the same room in which they had spent their wedding night nearly 2 years ago. Unlocking the door with the keycard, Owen scooped her up. The satin of her dress caused friction on his palms, sending a pulse of sexual electricity at the thought of her body underneath waiting for his touch straight to his groin.

Carrying his wife over the threshold, Owen deposited her gently onto the bed, next to a large rectangular gift wrapped in silver paper.

"Open it!" Owen sat down next to her on the bed and handed her the light package.

Cristina was intrigued at the shape and size of the gift. She had been expecting jewellery! She ripped excitedly at the paper and bit her lips to stifle the huge grin that threatened to take over her face. "I love it! Thank you." She turned her head and pecked a kiss on his lips before turning back to admire the picture on the canvas Owen had commissioned for her.

It was a black and white print of the x-ray of her icicle. The natural disaster that had bought about this rare phenomenon of finding the love of your life, your one true soulmate.

Standing up and Placing the canvas lovingly at the side of the luxurious king sized bed, Cristina came to stand in from of her husband, his blue eyes were twinkling with pride at getting his wife a gift that she seemed to love. She ran a hand through his hair and traced down the side of his face and then moved her hands towards her back.

"So, Mr Yang, do you want to see my scar?"

Unzipping the back of the column of red satin, she let the dress fall to the floor revealing her perfectly, totally naked body...

To be continued...

**Author's note: thought I would pull a Shonda and leave you wanting more! Will I write the wedding night or will I do a time jump! Ha ha! **

**I promise I will not time jump, some wedding night action is coming (excuse the pun!) very soon! I love you all too much to be that cruel!**

**Lots of love **


	32. Chapter 32

Owen's heart thumped in his chest forcing rushes of blood throughout his system. His vision became instantly sharper and his groin noticeably harder. He took a steadying breath and took in the full picture of the wickedly delicious beauty of his wife in front of him. To know that this woman would be the one he would have the chance to make love to for the rest of his life turned him on to a level he had never experienced before. There was a desperation of needing to be part of her, for his body to be imprinted, molded onto hers. It transcended the sex, they had hot, hard, vigorous sex, it was the best either of them had ever had but it was about more than that. The first time they had been intimate together had been flooded with their emotional connection, he had been asking her forgiveness and she had given it. In that moment both of them had realised that their bodies were driven by their hearts, their hands and lips embedded each others bodies over and over again with the three words they had at times been unable to allow themselves utter and at other times been unable to stop escaping their lips.

Tonight, in the after of tightening the ties of their wedding vows, it was about once again showing their love through their actions, of merging their bodies together in a duet known by heart.

The red satin of the second wedding dress lay in a pool of folds at her feet. Cristina stepped out of the centre of the column, kicked the dress to one side and pulled the chair from the dressing table across the floor. Placing it directly in front of Owen, who was still seated on the bed, just out of his arms reach. She sat down, the balls of her feet pressed into the floor to ground her, the arches of her instep mirroring the arch of her back as she lent her body towards him teasingly.

Taking the tips of her 2 index fingers into her mouth and moistening them Cristina slowly glided her hands down each side of her neck. She danced her way to the back plane of the part of her body that had always totally seduced her husband, lifting her hair up and letting it fall languidly back over her fingers. She closed her eyes and imagined each of the touches of her fingertips on her skin to be her husbands kisses. She knew he had fixed his eyes on the path of her hands, she could feel it- that singular frisson of energy that surged through her whenever the blue windows to his soul trained their adoring gaze on her.

Her hands continued their journey, stroking along her collar bone and down the soft space in between her breast. She opened her fingers to cup each breast in her palms, gently pressing against their still milk heavy weight. She found her nipples and her fingers kneaded more insistently, circling the dark areola before teasing her dexterous hands across the tip of her hard pink nipple. Cristina pinched each nipple between her thumb and forefinger leaned back in the chair, eyes closed moaning gently. The arch in her back became more pronounced as she draped herself across the high back of the chair, her hair hanging down tickling her shoulder blades, her stomach stretching in to an unspoilt plane, apart from the still visible mark of the icicle scar. Owen's mark, the icicle had branded her as his own and now he was the only one who would ever be privy to it, a permanent reminder of the moment she had let go of holding on to her feelings and allowed herself to begin to just feel. And that one feeling had overtaken all others- her love for this man, her husband, her soul mate.

She let her fingers trace down her smooth exposed belly with a light delicate touch, lovingly caressing the scar and down past her tight bellybutton. She paused, her hand inches away from the opening that would take this seduction into its next phase.

"Owen, I love you." Cristina breathed as she gazed at his face, which was twisted in an amalgamation of frustration, longing and tension. Her fingers slid deeper inside of herself, keeping a slow rhythm that raised the beating of her heart and quickened her breath. The heel of her palm presses against her clit, the pressure bringing such incredible pleasure. Cristina began to pant as the waves of pleasure began to lap against her damp lips.

"I love you too!" Owen's breath became shallow as he watched his wife indulge them both in the most beautiful kind of teasing. His groin was tight as he began to slowly stroke himself through the fabric of his suit trousers. He felt its solid thickness, ran a finger up and down its length, teasing the tip, which began to moisten. He slipped his hand down the front, inside the belted waist and tight fitting boxer shorts he had chosen and slowly cupped his throbbing balls, gently kneading and massaging them, feeling their fullness. Owen knew that he would have to empty them soon, to bury himself in his wife and give himself to her totally. He fondled each ball, before moving his fingers up along the engorged shaft, feeling the veins along the side and the thick ridge up the middle. His index finger ran around the base of the smooth head, tracing its shape causing it to tighten again. As he slowly started to pull his rigid cock, still shielded from Cristina's view by his trousers, he locked his eyes to his wife's in a look that told each of them that they wanted each other so desperately that to deny their bodies and souls the connections they craved would be akin to torture.

Owen started to pull on his thick shaft in earnest, indulging in long steady strokes from the tip down to the base. He felt the throbbing veins under his fingers as he watched Cristina's fingers slipping in and out of her engorged sex, dripping wet, making little squelching noises each time. Her breath coming was coming shorter gasps, as she spread her lips and teased her fingers over her clit.

"Owen…Owen…Owen…." She moaned deeply as she slipped a third finger deep inside her.

Hearing his name on her lips spurred Owen on to cup his balls, massaging them. Their weight against his hands indicating their ache for the ultimate relief. Cristina's fingers worked on her clit furiously in tight little circles as she began to near her orgasm. All of a sudden she let out a deep moan which turned into a high pitched squeal as her body went tense and her hips bucked against her hand, fingers being clenched by her spasaming pussy.

"Take off your clothes" she gasped desperately at Owen. "I am close…I need you now."

Owen pulled his hand out of his trousers, stood up and began to furiously unhook his belt. He pushed his trousers and boxers down and exposed the work his hands and her image had accomplished- his rock hard length standing at a perfect right angle to his body. He pulled of his jacket and ripped open his shirt, shrugging it off, allowing it to fall on the bed another casualty of their passion.

With one stride Owen closed the space between them and lifted Cristina off her feet. Her own legs instinctively wrapped around his waist, as he carried her over to the wall on the opposite side of the room. He slammed her back against it, pinning her arms by the wrists above her head. Cristina's vision suddenly grew dark when Owen did nothing but simply stare at her. His blue eyes darkened with carnal thoughts eyes stared back at her, making her feel as if he was x raying her insides, scanning her for every sign of love she felt for him. She was trapped and it was an escape she never wanted to make.

Owen's mouth crushed against his wife's, sending both their senses exploding in a million different directions at once. Cristina ground my hips against his, causing a guttural growl to rise from Owen's throat as he released her wrists, using only his hips to pin his wife to the wall.

"Tell me what you want…Cristina" Owen forced the words into her mouth and the side of her face between kisses, his hands grazing her nipples, making her writhe with pleasure between the coldness of the plaster on her back and the warmness of his body to her front.

"I want you inside me….I want you to claim me…..to totally conquer me." As she laid bare her desires she ran her hands through his hair and managed to get a grip around his neck to steady herself as Owen cupped his hands around to the backs of her upper thighs and shifted them slightly higher before burying himself inside of her completely.

"Ahhhhhh!" The strangled sound escaped from her lips as a loud intense roaring buzzed in both her ears as her husband did exactly what she had asked. His hardness filled her to the brim, but he made no effort to move. Cristina ran her hands down Owen's bare back, tracing the lines of his rippling muscles and gently kissed his lips, encouraging him to take her. Owen shivered slightly at the touch of her tiny geniuses brushing across his already tingling bare skin and he forcefully thrust his hips forwards.

Owen shifted his position slightly, his teeth grazed up the side of the neck he found to be a aphrodisiac and he shifted Cristina's legs higher again, allowing himself deeper access. He thrust himself deep and fast into his wife as she clung to him, her finger nails digging into his shoulders, the pain only heightening the pleasure.

"Owen I can't…I 'm going to…..I have to…." Cristina was desperate to let go but she needed him to be alongside her, she needed to mingle their offerings to cement their connection once again.

"Come for me….I'm here…." Owen panted into her ear as he pushed himself into her one final time. He bit down on her neck as he gave himself over to the release.

Cristina's vision exploded into a thousand lights, then plunged into pitch blackness as every muscle in her body contracted painfully at once. Muscles deep inside of her, that she never knew existed, clenched tightly around her husband, causing him to emit a low groan into her ear.

The world shattered and the room fell away. All that existed was this sweaty, tangle of bodies anchored to each other at their centres.

Owen's body went rigid as the climax ignited deep inside of him, a torrent of shockwaves overrunning his system so powerfully that hecould barely breathe. His knees had buckled and he pressed one palm to the wall to stop them from falling into a heap on the floor.

_In. Out. In. Out. In. Out._ They stayed there both gulping in air to regulate their ragged breathing, filling their lungs with the lifeblood they needed just as Owen had filled Cristina with his.

After a few minutes, Owen dropped the hand that was still on Cristina's thigh and pressed it against the wall, using both hands to lever himself slowly away from her, withdrawing himself. No sooner than Cristina had dropped her legs back to the ground had Owen enveloped her in his arms and carried her back towards the bed. He gently laid her down on the pillows and crawled alongside of her, pulling her into her familiar spot so she was resting her ear over his heart beat.

"So, did you enjoy your wedding day, Mrs. Hunt?" Owen kissed her forehead and entwined his fingers in her and twisted her wedding rings around in his fingers as he asked the question.

"Yes. I never imagined I would get married once but now I have done it twice. What is it about you that makes me want more?" Cristina tilted her head back and caught his lips in a lingering kiss. She pressed herself up on his chest and took his face in her hands, marveling in the happiness he had bought into her once sterile life.

"I'll show you!" Owen grinned back at her and in one swift motion rolled them both over and let his lips and tongue begin to do all the explaining his wife needed.


	33. Chapter 33 the chief's office

A surgical batallion. A densely populated group of warriors working together to hold off one common enemy- death. The support services- the anesthatistis, the scrub nurses, the physios- working along side the comabat medics- the infrantry, the surgeons. They weild the weapons of the war-the scalpel, they set the course of the battle- the procedure and they win the decorations- the still beating hearts, the deep breathing lungs, the open, seeing eyes. At the head of every batallion is the Major- the battle scared figure head, who has fought foes on many fronts, with honour and valour. The Major has to see the big picture, manage the egos, heal the divisions and nurture a well oiled machine focused on the common goal. He is part of the team but isolated from it, in the thick of it yet kept on the fringes. Being the boss, well you are the commander in chief but sometimes it can feel as though you are standing in the middle of the battlefield totally alone even with the whole batallion around you.

Owen had been the Chief of Surgery at Seattle Grace Mercy West for 12 weeks. It had been a big adjustment professionally, he missed the chaos and bustle of the ER and being surrounded by colleagues and patients. He missed the pressure of the OR and the immense pleasure it gave you when you won the battle and saved the life. His day was now almost exclusively about budgets, paperwork, scheduling other doctor's surgeries and troubleshooting queries and questions. His friends were now his staff and the dynamics definitely felt very different- the easy banter was replaced by clipped conversations and arguments about his decision making. He was starting to realise it was kind of lonely to be the man in charge. Personally, his life was one big juggling act. He was spending more time at the hospital, leaving Cristina to manage her own full time job in her final year of residency and the raising of a 7 month old. Owen always seemed to be in a rush to drop Daniel in daycare or at his mother's house or picking him up to take him home while Cristina finished her shift and then after a quick dinner, chat and a kiss Owen would return to his office. The time they did spend together they were both exhaused and days off at the same time were becoming few and far between.

Tonight it was already past 10pm, the hospital felt quieter due to the skelteon night shift staff already hard at work, while the on call surgeons grabbed much needed bursts of sleep in the empty side rooms. All day, Owen had only left the office for brief periods to get lunch and use the bathroom. He was going stir crazy. The type face on the paperwork in front of him began to blur and he rubbed his face in his hands. He wanted to see his wife, to go home to her and kiss their son good night. Sighing heavily, he grudgingly turned his attention back to the budget in front of him, lamenting the fact that a more exciting and desirable figure was not staring back at him.

_Meanwhile at the firehouse…._

Cristina was restless, Daniel was sleeping deeply in his cot and she was lounging on the couch flicking through a medical journal. But not even the glossy pages detailing the most cutting edge cardio procedures and developments could fill the space that her husband should be occupying. She missed Owen, it felt like the time they had been apart when neither of them had wanted to be in the early days of their relationship. The balancing act she could cope with it was the lack of time, as either a couple or as a family, she was finding hard to negotiate. They worked in the same hospital but yet throught the day found it almost impossible to find each other, Owen tethered by his new title and Cristina by the title to be bestowed on her once she completed her residency. She desperately wanted to be held by him, to fall asleep in his arms not already be asleep when he finally crawled into their bed after yet another long day at work. She wanted to enjoy those short, uninterupted private moments, immediately after they opened their eyes in the morning, of just taking in the sight of each other and bathing in their absoulte love for one another. She also wanted to make love to him, to have the passionate sex that fed them. She missed him and how his body made her own feel. She was frustrated, close to powder kick and no other man but Owen could turn that frustration into complete and utter satisfaction.

Just thinking about him caused a heat to rise in her body that gave her the impetus, even though it was late into the evening now, to pick up her mobile and text her mother-in-law:

_Been called into an emergent situation at the hospital. Could you come and sit with Daniel? Thank you, Cx_

When her screen flashed back with an affirmative reply Cristina quickly got off the couch, rifled through the dresser to find the 3 items she was looking for and hot footed it to the bathroom to get ready.

Wrapping her winter coat around her and slinging her bag over her shoulder, she waited impatiently for Susan to arrive, gave her instructions if Daniel should wake, promised she would not be long, ran down the stairs to the underground car park, turned over the car engine and drove as quickly as was legal to the doors of her other house, to find the man who made any place he was her home.

_An hour later…_

KNOCK…KNOCK….. The rapping at the door made him snap his head up.

"Come in" Owen shouted, not bothering to look up to see who was entering the room, instead busying himself tidying the parers and stationery on his desk.

"Chief Hunt, I was wondering if you could help me with something?" The flirty voice lilted across the sterile air of the office, filling it with a buzz of passion and longing.

Owen knew that voice and he knew that playful tone. His heart started to beat a little faster as he looked up to see the vision of his beautiful wife, her raven curls tumbling over the collar of her white lab coat, her thick black wool coat that had been covering it lay discarded in a heap at her feet, and her eyes shining with mischief. Owen swallowed hard and anticipated that this was going to be a meeting of personal content as opposed to professional.

"I am having a problem with my boss Sir." Cristina fiddled with the buttons of her lab coat, which was done up. Owen bit his lip, wondering what delights may be revealed from underneath. "He is hot and married but I really want him. Does that make me a bad resident?" As she spoke Cristina stepped towards Owen, a seductive smile on her face. She began to unbutton the lab coat slowly, revealing first her bare shoulders, then her breasts and tiny waist encased in a black satain corset and as the wrapping slid to the floor a pair of tight fitting satain panties. Owen immediately felt the familiar twitch in his groin. _Oh God,_ he thought, _she knows just how to get to me. Every single time_. .

Cristina stood in front of him, close enough for her Chanel perfume to invade his nostrils and encourage his hard on even more. Just as she was sure he was going to lean in for a kiss, a noise at the door had Owen jumping away from her and sitting down in his chair behind the large mahongany desk. Cristina scrambled to grab both her lab coat and overcoat off the floor and hid behind the door.

"Yes?" Owen called out, double checking his wife would be concealed from the view of whoever was on the other side of the door when it opened.

Meredith Grey entered the room and looked suspiciously at the slight blush that was colouring Owen's cheeks.

"Can I help you Dr Grey", Owen cleared his throat nervously, shifting in the chair. Cristina was fighting back her laughter at seeing her husband so shy about the fact that he was nearly caught out when he was about to get seduced by his very hot wife.

"I was just wondering if you could come and…" Meredith looked puzzled at the weird expression on her best friend's spouses' face. He looked very guilty. Meredith ran her eye quickly around the room, looking for a reason why he was acting so strangely. Then she saw it! Behind the door in the reflection of the window she spied Cristina's black curls and the shaking of her body as she was silently laughing at being busted. Meredith knew why she was there- sex in the Chief's office had been one of her highlights of Derek's tenure, she should go and leave them to it! Althought watching Owen act all coy had been worth the interuption.

"You know what, never mind I will go ask one of the trauma fellows." Meredith grinned as she headed off towards the door. She winked at him as she turned back to offer a final parting, "Have a good night Chief!"

The door clicked shut. Cristina pulled herself together and locked it, ensuring they wouldn't be disturbed. She turned to Owen with a predatory grin on her face.

"Come on then Chief; are you going to show me who's boss?" She stood waiting, back pressed against the door frame.

Emboldened by the security of the locked door, Owen stepped from behind the desk. His erection was clearly visible in his well cut suit trousers, as he crossed the floor space towards her. Cutting directly to the heart of the matter, Cristina placed a hand directly on Owen's cock and moaned as she felt how hard it was.

Totally turned on and desperate for her husband's touch, Cristina pulled him towards her, placed her lips on his, and kissed him hard, whilst continuing to lightly stroke his hardening length through his trousers.

Owen returned his wife's kiss, pressing her firmly against the door with the weight of his whole body, sliding his tongue into her mouth sensuously. He explored her warm mouth with his tongue, and suddenly she captured it between her lips, and started to suck it gently, simulating a blow job.

Owen's erection, despite his belief that it couldn't possibly, grew harder. He wanted to have his wife's beautiful lips wrapped around his cock, not his tongue.

"Are you sure you can take it Dr Yang, I am a harsh task master!" Owen growled into her ear, as he dragged his lips and stubble across her cheek and up and down her neck. These actions were met by Cristina's throaty groans as she ran her palms over his muscular back and shoulders, moulding her hands to his manliness, heightening her base urges for him in that moment.

"Give me what you've got!" Cristina teased as he grabbed her pert ass and pulled her into him further, and ground his groin against hers. Cristina moaned as Owen's hip movements caressed her sensitive nub through the satain panties.

He led her over to the desk and she followed. Their hands creating a static friction as the sexual enegery fizzed through their bodies.

Feeling Owen's hand pushing her downward gently by her shoulders, Cristina dropped to her knees in front of him and began to slowly undo his trousers. She purposely dragged her nails along the length of his cock through his boxer shorts as she pushed the trousers down around his ankles. The boxer shorts were bulging, tight across his rigid shaft.

His trousers now around his ankles and his underwear quickly following, Owen couldn't wait any longer. Resting himself against the desk, he grabbed 2 fistfuls of Cristina's hair and pulled her head towards his erect cock. They had had rough play like this before so she wasn't surprised, and she loved that he wanted her so desperately. She took his cock into her mouth, rolling her tongue across the shiny head in search of his elixir, of which she found plenty.

But Cristina wasn't about to give in that easily. She was going to tease him as much as humanly possible before she gave in and let him enter her already soaking pussy. He hadn't even touched her yet, and her hungry little nether mouth was already gaping and the bud of delicate flesh protruding above it was making its presence known, throbbing and pulsing, straining against the fabric still covering her body.

Cristina sucked and slide her lips down over Owen's erection, flicking her tongue around the sides, over the top, and giving special attention to the tip of the shiny head, because she knew he liked that. His moans grew louder, and Cristina had to mentally remind herself where they were, and that they needed to be quieter. ShePulling her mouth down the shaft of his length, teasing her breath across the tip as she said softly,

"You're getting a little vocal Chief, we had better find another use for your mouth."

She moved around the side of her husband and hoped up onto the desk. With him standing between her legs she stretched them out and braced each one either side of him on the arms of his black leather desk chair. The cool, soft material on the soles of her feet juxtaposed the fierce heat emenating from between her legs. Her chosen position gave Owen a perfect view of her damp panties and the outline of what lay beneath. A coy smile and raised eyebrows had Owen on his knees in seconds, pulling her panties to one side and burying his face into her wetness. Now it was his wife's turn to moan and thrust her groin into his face.

His expert tongue explored every millimetre of her skin, leaving it tingling and rejoicing in his wake. He played with her outer labia, gently nibbling and sucking. Then he dipped his tongue into her wet hole, tasting her arousal. The sweet taste of Cristina's pussy drove Owen wild, and he moaned against her skin, causing discreet vibrations. A reciprocal grunting noise indicated that she wanted him to carry on, to bring her off, and give her what she really wanted, his long hard cock inside her.

Owen added two fingers to his sweet torture of his wife's sex, sliding them inside her, feeling her walls begin to clench around them. Cristina liked it rough but he knew the gentle approach usually drove her so wild that they would later have carnal sex, hard and desperate. And that's exactly what he wanted. He wanted to take her on the desk and give her the deepest, hardest sex she had ever had. Owen curved his fingers slightly, seeking out the most sensitive part of Cristina's G-spot, and started to caress it as his fingers slid in and out of her increasingly wet entry.

"Oh, Chief Hunt…" Cristina breathed as she writhed against his hand, her moans getting louder as her orgasm approached. She felt the orgasmic warmth spread through her body, and as her vaginal walls began to spasm around Owen's fingers, she ordered him, "Put your cock in me now while I'm still coming! I want you to feel it."

Owen didn't need telling twice. He removed his hand from Cristina's soaking wetness with ease, and in one fluid motion, climbed onto the desk, laid her on her back and entered her. They both moaned at the sensation, he of her wet and inviting warmth, she of being filled to her core with his love. He grabbed one of Cristina's legs and pulled it up towards her chest. This tightened her and increased sensation for them both. He used it as leverage as he thrust in and out of her sublimely wet, hot pussy.

He started slow, relishing the feeling of having his wife in his arms, and her sex enveloping his length, once more. As he moved in and out of her, he heard her moaning dirty words, which turned him on all the more.

"Tell the Chief what you want!" Owen groaned as he fell into a hard and fast rhythm which Cristina's pulsing walls accented.

"Fuck me harder!" she shrieked in a tone of pure wantoness. She needed this man so badly that when she was not with him she felt a physical ache in her heart and a longing in her body that threatened to suffocate her. She clung onto his back tighter, needing to hold him closer, to communicate to him how much she loved him and how much a part of her he was.

He grabbed the edge of the desk and increased the speed and depth of his thrusts, filling Cristina right up, giving her every single piece of him, his purple headed cock disappearing right inside her wet tunnel. His thighs slapped against hers, and the sound of their lovemaking filled the office. By this point neither of them cared, they were both past the point of no return.

Owen felt his energy change, he was getting close. He could not hold back giving his love to this woman "Baby I'm gonna come, are you going to come with me?"

"Yes… yes…..give it to me…" Cristina's words were strangled by lust, almost silenced by animalistic need to reach the summit and reap the spoils of the battle.

Owen thrust as deeply as he could, slamming his dick hard into her, his balls slapping against her ass. Then they tightened, and his cock began to throb as he jetted himself into Cristina's red hot sex. The feeling of Owen pulsating inside her set off her own orgasm. The waves of pleasure undulated throughout her body, she rippled her back against the desk and felt Owen tighten his grip around her waist. She shuddered into his chest, still clothed in the dark green shirt she had picked out for him earlier that morning. Owen collapsed against Cristina, just as the phone rang. He reached back across the desk and picked it up.

"Yes?" He barked, struggling to catch his breath and to concerntrate as Cristina traced his face with her fingers, commiting her man to her muscle memory knowing he would not be all hers for much longer.

"Can you come and do a consult in the ER. It's urgent" The lead nurse, slightly taken aback by the feirce tone of the gentle Dr Hunt, asked apologetically.

"I will be right there." Blowing out a long breathe which returned his heart rate to just above its normal tempo, Owen replaced the receiver and turned to Cristina. They kissed intimately, the heat of the moment overcoming all of their previous or rational feelings. "I have to go, baby. I'm sorry."

"I've missed you." Cristina, looked into his sad blue eyes and felt a stab of resentment at his new position. She tangled a hand into the thick red hair at the back of Owen's neck and pulled him on top of her into a tight hug, the weight of his body restoring her feelings of connected safety.

"I miss you too." Owen sighed as he dropped a kiss on her forehead, pushed himself off the desk and back onto his feet and began to dress his lower body. "Wait here for me, I will do this consult and then we will go home together, ok?"

"Whatever you say Chief, you are the boss!" Cristina smiled a half smile at the retreating figure of her husband as he disappeared out of the door and down the corridor.

Lying back on the desk and running her hands over the bones in the front of the corset she mused that being married to the main man most definitely had its up sides!

**Author's note: please keep reviewing and telling me what you think- the good, the bad and the ugly. Have got all your suggestions in mind for the next chapters, am going to employ some time jumps to cover some of baby Daniel's milestones. Only 43 days to go till SP- we can make it! Lots of **


	34. Chapter 34 the first birthday

Milestones. Surgeons start their race towards them moments into their internships- the first time they scrub in, the first time they hold the stainless steel scalpel, the first opening, first closing, the first solo surgery, the first life they save. Or they try to dodge and side step them- the first case they have to put back under and re-open, the first mistake made under the glare of their attending, the first life they lose on the table. The Surgeon's reputation is carved out by who makes it to these rights of passage first. It is a fast paced sprint towards fellowships, publication and glory. For a child, milestones are merely the markers, the signposts along the road map of their lives. They shape the type of person they become as they journey from baby to toddler, toddler to teenager, teenager to adult. Are they the high achiever- the one for who the milestone provide no obstacle and are passed through early and easily or are they the soul who lazily approaches each one in their own time frame, accepting that we cannot do everything all at once, but delighting in any small movement forwards? For parents the milestones can be both frustrating and delightful. They question why a friend's child can do something earlier than their own or they rejoice in having bragging rights to their child obliterating the obstacle and crossing the finish line first. For parents who are surgeons, well the race to hit the milestones os on a a whole new level. After all, competition is in the surgical blood.

Daniel Michael Hunt was one whole year old today. Three hundred and sixty-five days earlier he had made his somewhat dramatic entrance into the world on the floor of OR2. To mark that day, he now sat on the oak panelled floor of his living room, flanked by his parents - the Chief and the Cardio fellow, amongst a hugenpile of gift wrapped presents of differing size and shape.

His Seattle Grace Mercy West family had long since departed from the lively birthday party held earlier and now the firehouse was bathed in a quiet that hummed with the sound of friendly conversation and laughter, that held the love and care of the hugs exchanged and saw the smiles on the faces of all the people who had come to love this little boy as one of their own. Daniel, with Zola, Sofia and Dr Bailey's older son,Tucker, had spent most of the party playing with the scarily authentic plastic surgical sets that Cristina had put together for each them. They had performed an elaborate roof top operation on Mark. They had nearly lost him a couple of times but Zola had delighted in jumping on his stomach and that seemed to bring him back to life with true to life gasping, coughing and spluttering at the impact! They had followed that with an urgent face transplant on Jackson, telling him they wanted to make him beautiful. Jackson's girlfriend Lexie had agreed with them and played along as the scrub nurse handing out the instruments that they made up names for as the 4 children crawled and climbed over Jackson's body that lounged in the recliner, poking, probing and prodding at his face. They had proceeded to move through a brain transplant on Derek Shepherd, that had consisted mainly of brushing his hair and putting colourful hair clips in it, bandaged Arizona's thumb, tapped Callie's knees with the plastic bone hammer, listened to Cristina's heart, amputated Meredith's foot, by taking away her shoes, stuck plasters all over Alex's arms, tried to stretch Bailey by pulling her with great vigour, continually poked Teddy to test if she could still cry and sutured Richard Webber's elbow with pink ribbons. After everyone had been 'treated' to a procedure at the hands of the junior doctors, Owen had settled them down onto a rug and told them a story about a beautiful princess with raven black curls and how she transformed into a super hero who saved the people of Seattle. As the little seated party looked out over the Seattle skyline, the story took on different meaning for each of them as they imagined the heroes in their own lives and amongst the guests at the roof top party each child could hold their personal superheroes under their innocent gaze. These four children were the next generation, the future of this hybrid family. A surgical dynasty bound together by shared passion, shared gifts, shared skills, shared vision, shared lives and shared loves.

Enjoying the peace and stillness, Owen turned his head, tilting it to the right as he always did when a thought immersed his cognitive pathways. As he gazed, smiling softly, in total awe at the 2 people who defined his whole existence, he reflected silently on the past year. A year where Daniel had opened the doors of the OR and shown them both how wide the world outside their work could be. Suddenly remembering that there was one more gift to be shared, Owen jumped to his feet and headed towards the bedroom.

"Where are you going?" Cristina shouted after him. "Are we not going to open these gifts?"

Her tone was impatient, she wanted to see what treasures lay beneath the glittering wrapping paper, to find out who had bought the most educational gifts to aid her in her quest to turn out a future Harper Avery winner and who had wasted their money on toys or games set to delight Daniel but grossly annoy his parents.

"Hang on...two seconds...just wait!" Came Owen's mirthful response as the sound of a drawer closing reverberated into the living room.

Reappearing seconds later in front of his wife, Owen was holding a silver rectangular box, with a blue bow tied around it.

"This, Cristina, is a gift for you." Owen proffered the box and waited for her to take it before sitting back down on the floor and pulling a wriggling Daniel into his lap. "It is kind of your birthday too, a year ago you bought this amazing little boy into our lives. I love you."

Owen lent across to kiss his wife, a gentle kiss softly thanking her for not running from her initial fears of not knowing how to want or to have it all and of not understanding that to be excellent at one thing you loved did not mean you had to be denied a larger life around it. Thanking her for everything they had shared and would share in the future.

"Open it." Owen murmured into the nape of her neck before grazing his lips back up towards her check pecking a more defined kiss onto it. He then squeezed his son a little tighter into his lap and Daniel responded by putting his thumb into his mouth and snuggling into his father's chest._ I am going to have a little nap while mum y and daddy look at their present. Mine when I wake up._ The little boy thought to himself as his dark brown orbs disappeared under his heavy lashed eyelids. The silence of the firehouse was now punctuated by soft snores, grunts and tiny hiccups as dreams of the princess who became a superhero took over his consciousness.

Cristina untied the bow, prized off the lid, pulled back the tissue paper and lifted out a medium sized hardback book. On the dark blue cover in silver calligraphy, framed by a border of planes, trains and cars, were inscribed the words _Daniel Hunt's first year._

Cristina smiled as she ran her fingers along the spine of the book. Owen never failed to amaze her, here once again he had produced a gesture that was so full of pride and love in something they had created and nurtured together. It literally took her breathe away.

"When did you do all this?" She turned the book, each page filled with memories of their huge shared life, over in the palm of her hands, soaking up the weight of what this represented. Cristina realised that she was holding the map of a path she had never desired to tread. There had been one other opportunity to walk it with another companion but she had turned away from it and had ended up walking once again alone. Until Owen had found her, he too was wandering aimlessly, with little direction. They had fallen into step, traversed the inclines, hiked the valleys and hills and reached their base camp. Together.

"I started it the day he was born. When I took Zola to get candy so you and Meredith could spend some time together, I bought the memory book in the gift shop." Owen told her softly.

"Thank you." Snuggling into his side and looping his free arm over her shoulders, Cristina opened the cover and the parents began to revisit the milestones Daniel had achieved in his first year of life.

The first few pages of book was full of photographs of Cristina and Owen before they had Daniel- on their wedding day, at Callie and Arizona's wedding, on vacation, at Sofia's baptism. There was even one of Cristina operating, that Owen had shot on his mobile from the gallery. The page titled my family captured both grandmothers, Owen sisters and their husbands and children and every member of their hospital family.

Owen and Cristina smiled and laughed as they connected each photograph to a story about the people within it or the event at which it was taken. When Cristina got to to the page that dated a list of Daniel's firsts she paused at a picture of Daniel standing up straight in the middle of the living room.

"Wow, his first steps! Do you remember how he fell over before he got the hang of putting one foot in front of the other." Owen chuckled as the memory of that day danced in the air in front of them.

_A month earlier..._

_Daniel had been playing with a wooden train set in the living room, banging the wheels against the pathway, dragging the trains towards the station. His father had been in the kitchen fixing lunch and Daniel had pulled himself to his feet using the side of the sofa as leverage. He had let go, holding himself on his feet somewhat unsteadily at first but once his knees had got the message from his brain to lock he had stood at his full height letting go of the safety net of the sofa. Out of the corner of her eye, lifted briefly from the medical journal, Cristina had gasped and shouted "Owen...Owen quick!"_

_Dashing into the living room, Owen's eyes widened and a huge grin spread over his face._

_"Are you ready to take some steps buddy?" Owen dropped onto his knees a few steps in front of his son and held out his arms to catch Daniel if he fell. Cristina, tossing aside the article about a heart she had held in her hands, knelt down next to the man, in front of the child who held hers. Daniel looked at his parents quizzically, what do they want me to do? He wondered as he shifted his weight front to back and wobbled furiously. Giggling he gained his balance again and lowered himself down to a squatting position. He looked up to see his parents faces cloud with slight disappointment. I wasn't supposed to do that!_

_"Come on honey, try again! Walk for mummy." Cristina smiled and coaxed Daniel to stand by clapping her hands together softly. Daniel mirrored her action and clapped his hands once before pushing himself back up to stand, this time with nothing to help apart from his thigh muscles._

_"That's it! Now come over here." Owen's voice was brimming with excitement. He could see that they were on the cusp of a wonderfully joyous moment as parents and he opened his arms even wider ready to wrap all the love he had for this precious boy around him._

_It was like watching an action sequence in a movie in slow motion. Cristina and Owen held their breathe, their eyes wide, their muscles tense with anticipation. The tiny heel of the left foot came off the floor, quickly followed by the toes. Daniel swayed side to side, his arms flapping to balance himself. The foot hit the floor a few centimetres in front of where it had been with a satisfying thump. _

_"You did it! Daniel you took a step!" Cristina had tears in her eyes. She felt as proud of her son as she had of herself when she had completed her first solo surgery. _

_Daniel let out a shriek of delight and lifted the other foot. He was determined, now he had mastered the technique, to make it across the finish line- his fathers arms. With each step closer to Owen, his parents joy grew. Both of them had changed position from kneeling to squatting ready to scoop Daniel up to congratulate him. _

_"One more...one more..." Owen could barely hold himself back from inching himself forward to close the minuscule gap that separated him from his son. "one tiny step and you've done it!"_

_The foot made contact with the floor for a final time, the tiny toes brushing the tips of Owen's longer ones. Daniel fell forwards into the warmth of the arms that made him feel as if nothing could ever hurt him and tuned his ear to the heartbeat that soothed his soul. Wrapping his tiny arms around his father's thick neck, Daniel Hunt delighted in his achievement and how happy it had made the 2 people who he loved so wholly._

_Taking a beat to enjoy the father and son moment in front of her, Cristina wrapped herself around Owen's back, hugging herself tightly to him and looked deep into the eyes of her son, as his head lay on Owen's shoulder. "You are excellent." she stroked the tiny boy's hair, stood on tip toes and pressed a kiss on his forehead. "I love you."_

As the memory of that special day disappeared back into the pages of the memory book, Cristina kissed Owen's cheek and turned the final page. At the top of the crisp white sheet she read the words _Parent's reflections._ Cristina noticed that Owen had already filled in the Space reserved for Daddy. Sinking further into her husband's embrace, she read the words scrawled in the handwriting that she most often saw wrapped around medical jargon in patient charts. In this book, however, the words leapt of the page, straight to her heart.

_This first year as a father has filled my life with the brightest colours and allowed me to feel the deepest joy. Daniel, you are our rainbow in the clouds. You have pushed aside all the darkness, healed all the pain and made my love for your mother even more absolute. I promise to keep you safe and help you become the man you want to be in your future. With all my love now and always, daddy.x_

"Pass me a pen." For Cristina, words never came easily but right now she knew exactly what she wanted to say, exactly what she wanted to commit to the page so her son would know how she had felt right here, right now.

_Daniel Michael Hunt. All the best things come in threes. The three things I hold in my heart- you, your daddy and my work. The three things you have taught me- to love without boundary, to live without fear and to let myself whole. You were the missing piece in the puzzle of my life when the picture was blurred. Your daddy made it clear and you bought it into sharp focus. I will tell you these same three words everyday for the rest of my life. I. Love. _

Memories. Our brains keep them safe until the time we need to recall them. It may be to remember particular details or to comfort us in a time of trouble. The best thing about a memory is to share it in the after with the ones who were present in the then. To bond yourself closer through shared experience and continue to shape your lives to the new memories that stand within your reach in the distant tomorrow.

**Authors note: I got this idea because my daughter Ella, who is 10 and a half months has just started to stand on her own and we are convinced she is going to take her first steps any minute now! Also my husband, Erik, made a memory book for both our children! 4 more weeks till SP, so we have a few more chapters to come on this story and then hopefully lots to write once we get some, hopefully amazing season 8 story arcs for our favourite couple. Review and let me know what you are lots of love **


	35. Chapter 35

_Author's note: hi everyone! Hope we are all surviving all these rumours, spoilers and teases about our favourite couple and the fate of our baby! Nearly at SP now! Sorry it has taken me a while to update, lots going on at work and getting ready for Zak's first day of school. Have the next couple of chapters underway so hope to get those finished and up soon. Hope you enjoy this one, a bit lighter, read and tell me what you think! Lots of love _

Surprises. In the OR surgeons try to foresee them, to anticipate, to avoid, to work around them. A surprise in the surgical field more often than not means jeopardy, danger. It is the roll of the dice between repair and recovery or failure and finality. How the surgeon responds to the surprise tells the story of whether they are adequate, competent or extraordinary. But sometimes, just sometimes, on rare occasions the skill of the surgeon is irrelevant. This is because the nature of some surprises can bring with them new levels of learning, a chance to witness something never seen or felt before. In life, as in surgery, surprises can, quite simply, bring forth miracles.

"Owen..." Turning around from the open wardrobe doors in just a pair of tight fitting black jeans and a delicate white lace push up bra, Cristina adopted her best seductive voice, the one that always had him eating out of her hands and other parts of her anatomy, if she was very lucky. She fixed her husband with a wickedly flirty look, languidly licking her lips and tousling her hair to expose the delicate skin of her neck. _This gets him every time. I've got this in the bag!_ She thought smugly to herself waiting for her husband's response.

"Yeeeees?" Owen, slowly drawing out each letter of the word, much to his wife's annoyance, was lying stretched out across the bed, his long, muscular body shrouded in a black Harvard hoodie and dark blue jeans, smirking at his wife's blatant attempt to get around him. He was wise to her tricks and mentally reminded himself to stand firm and defend his territory in the face of this tense, yet extremely sexually arousing onslaught.

Crawling onto the bed, lying on her side facing him and wrapping her arms around her husband's neck, Cristina whispered in his ear, "Owen, how about if you go tonight and I will be here waiting for you when you get back with a very, very sexy surprise?."

Pulling his head back to look into her eyes, his beard grazing her cheek sending a shockwave of pleasure through both their bodies, Owen knew he had two clear choices in this moment. He could give in to her demands and reap all the benefits of some very hot sex later or he could call her bluff and play her at her own devious game. Brushing a stray curl behind her ear, Owen gently cupped her face in his hands and kissed her. A slow, lingering kiss full of playful promise.

_Got him!_ Cristina thought to herself as she made to deepen the kiss and spend the next few minutes lost in the blissful ecstasy of her husband before they got Daniel up and made plans for the day. Still full of resolve, Owen put the brakes on his wife's moment of triumph and abruptly withdrew his lips from the pas de deux they had been momentarily dancing in perfect harmony.

"How about," he whispered into her ear, mirroring her earlier gesture. The vibrations of his deep, husky voice setting off fireworks at the core of her being. "You and I both go and then we both come home together and I will show you how grateful I am to have such an amazing, beautiful, selfless, supportive and talented wife." With each compliment he pecked a kiss on the sensitive spot behind her ear, knowing that he was imminently going to be the conqueror in this battle of wills as Cristina moaned softly.

"I hate you!" Pushing him backwards, Cristina pouted like a child who, when locked in negotiations, cannot reason away the parts of a deal she does not want because the parts she does sound so appealing.

"You love me! You can't breathe without me." Owen laughed as he jumped up off the bed to extricate himself from the grip of her tiny hands before she could put them to work against the one part of his body that was totally powerless to resist her persuasion. Still laughing Owen sauntered off in the direction of the kitchen to start making some breakfast.

"You may not love me after I run up a huge bill on your credit card!" Cristina shouted at the retreating figure of the man who knew her so wholly it was almost intrusive. He knew her rhythms, her beats and somehow was able to understand her on a level that even she herself could not reach as easily as he did sometimes. It was like Cristina was a trauma procedure that Owen had committed to his emotional and physical memory. His muscles remembered each movement that drew pleasure from her body, he could instantly recall the various steps required to read her, diagnosing her frustrations and her pain and he knew the honest words she needed to hear to help her to heal. Even if there were the occasional misfires, the kinks in the mechanics of the delicacies of loving her, Owen, like the soldier he would always be, battled on and fought forwards. He knew when to hold firm, pushing her to consider things from his vantage point, yet he was also skilled in the art of retreat. He could step back and wait patiently. He could wait for Cristina to come to him, for her to lay out the strategy and was happy to fall into the march to the rhythm that she set. Cristina worked as part of a team, everyday in the OR she was relied upon and relied on others to pull each patient out of the ambush that death tried to win. Each day she fought a battle and more often than not she won. But it was here, in her marriage, within the walls of their firehouse that she had had to fight her personal war to allow herself to trust his promise of eternity, to believe his love was constant. And now her heart was the victor and it beat anew with the beautiful calmness only enjoyed in true peacetimes.

Flopping backwards onto the bed, resting her palms on her still bare abdomen, she picked up her mobile, she hit the speed dial and barked down the line, "Get over here NOW! I need to be a disgustingly girly wife tonight and I need to go buy a dress!"

At the other end of the line, Meredith looked wearily at her daughter, Zola who was playing with a dolls house on the living room floor, and sighing she replied "We will be right over!"

Throwing the phone back down on the duvet as she pushed herself to her feet, Cristina pulled on a long sleeved white top, checked her side profile in the mirror, pulled her hair into a messy pony tail and went to go and attend to the other man in her life.

Walking into Daniel's room her frustration at having to go and shop was lifted when she saw her 1 and a half year old son happily playing with his train set on the road map play mat that Richard, or Webby as Daniel and Zola called him, and Adele had bought him a few months earlier. Dressed in a pair of navy blue pyjamas, the colour almost identical to the colour of Owen's attending scrubs, Daniel was lost in a world of imagination as he made sounds that in his mind simulated the sounds of a busy station and made up babbled conversations between the plastic people he moved between the platform and the train. Daniel had only been to the train station in the city centre a couple of times so Cristina took this clear mark of his retention to be another sign of the genius of her child. Leaning against the locked safety gate, Cristina spent a few moments just admiring her greatest work.

"Danny, do you want to come eat some breakfast?" Cristina asked the question softly and smiled as her son dropped the trains haphazardly on the track and walked slowly but steadily over to the gate, his brown eyes shining with delight as he drew closer to the woman he would be forever connect to, loved by and grateful for.

"Mamama". Daniel forced out his unique version of mama as he held up his arms, beckoning for his mother to lift him over the barrier that separated him from the warmth of her embrace.

"You want mama?" She emphasised the maternal moniker, trying to get him to say it again but now Daniel was up in her arms, nose pressed into her neck, his fingers entwined in the tip of the curls escaping from the hairband, he was uninterested in demonstrating his linguistic skills and more interested in enjoying some precious time in one of the two sets of arms where his existence made perfect sense.

Pressing a flurry of fast paced kisses onto the side of his face, eliciting giggles from the little boy, Cristina squeezed him into her chest and walked towards the smell of porridge and bacon, "Come on then, let go let Daddy see his first born, shall we?"

_Exactly 20 minutes later_...

Meredith and Zola made their way up the steps of the firehouse to find Owen behind the kitchen counter preparing Daniel some porridge and Cristina some bacon and an omelette. Daniel sat, like a little Prince, banging his spoon impatiently in the high chair, next to Cristina who was sitting at the kitchen table absentmindedly leafing through the morning paper.

Zola shrieked with delight as she caught her first glimpse of Owen and raced towards him, throwing her chubby arms around his legs when she disappeared behind the centre island.

"Pick up! Pick up!" Zola squeezed her Uncle Owen's legs tightly, waiting for him to put down the spoon and scoop her up. When she was up at his eye level, Zola rubbed her nose against Owen's and then laid her head on his shoulder, thumb in mouth, allowing herself to be hypnotised by Owen picking up the wooden spoon and continuing to stir the porridge bubbling away gently on the stove.

"You have got some serious competition there my friend!" Meredith elbowed Cristina in the back as she sat down at the table opposite her best friend, pouring herself some coffee from the pot that sat in the centre.

"Well Zola is welcome to put on an uncomfortable evening dress and accompany him to the Seattle Grace Mercy West Hospital Board's Christmas party tonight if she would like." Pushing the formal invitation across the table for Meredith to examine, Cristina turned her attention to the picture in her kitchen.

Cristina could not help but smile at the delight in Zola's eyes as she rested in Owen's arms. Somehow seeing Owen cradling a little girl bought out different emotions in her than when he held his son. For Cristina the bond a little girl shares with her father shaped all the child's future relationships with men. It certainly had for her. The loss of her own father, her male role model, at such a young age had made her she now believed, before she met Owen, subconsciously seek out older partners. She looked for experience, arrogance and certainty, someone to guide her, to teach her in a way her own father had never been given enough time to do. She wondered if her father had not been taken from her that night in the car, if she would have been able to love Owen when he came into her life or would she have been on different path with another. _Every cloud has a silver lining I guess_.

"I will have to bring Zola with us, Derek is on call." Meredith's voice cut through Cristina's musing and she was reminded of the dreaded shopping task at hand.

"Oh no you won't! I need you to focus! I hate shopping for clothes and we have a limited window of time! Owen will be looking after Zola and Daniel until we get back, as you will be looking after them both tonight. Ok?" Cristina did not wait for either of them to answer. There was an unspoken contract between the best friends that anytime a babysitter was required, at however short a notice, the godmother card was played and could not be refused. The only game changer would be ultimate death or maybe the chance to scrub in on a really cool surgery!

Setting down the plate of hot food in front of his wife, turning back to grab the bowl of porridge and placing it in front of Daniel, before easing himself and Zola into another of the chairs at the table, Owen nodded, knowing there was no point in trying to do anything other than agree.

"No problem! I can handle 2 children for a few hours." Owen quipped cockily, starting to feed his son spoonfuls of the breakfast he had lovingly prepared for him, while settled comfortably in his lap Zola nibbled on a slice of bacon, that had been intended for Cristina, her Uncle had syphoned off the plate for her.

"if you are sure?" Meredith, reaching down to pick up her purse, smiled at the thought of a morning out with her friend, without having to negotiate a stroller or stop to change diapers. "Shall I drive?"

"No we will get a cab. Today is all on the chief!" Cristina winked at Owen as she kissed Daniel on the head, grabbed her stuff and followed Meredith out of the firehouse towards her first idea of hell for that day- the mall!

At the mall...

"Shopping seriously sucks!" Cristina moaned as the taxi came to a halt outside the imposing structure of the shopping mall, which was decked out with christmas trees and holiday decorations. Handing the driver the fare and a hefty tip she reluctantly dragged her body out onto the sidewalk.

"Shall we have a browse round and see what options there are on evening dresses and then make a shortlist?" Meredith, appealing to her best friend's need for structure, slammed the door shut and linked her arm through Cristina's.

"There will be no browsing. Shopping is best approached like trauma surgery, quick and dirty." jerking her shoulder against meredith's back to initiate some forward motion, Cristina strode into the mall practically dragging Meredith in her wake, her eyes scanning the store fronts for the one shop she had become acquainted with as a young girl growing up in Beverley Hills.

Prada.

The Italian fashion house where money bought style. Cristina had spent many afternoons during her youth in the company of this particular designer. Her mother had dragged her along to the store on Rodeo Drive, forcing Cristina to bear witness as Helen delighted in wiling away hours trying on the various handcrafted garments for events she had to attend in her role as an eminent Beverley Hill's dentists wife. As a child Cristina had scoffed at the frivolity and uselessness of it all, sitting on the changing room floor absorbed in texts books while skinny, flawlessly made up sales girls fawned and fussed over not only her mother's beauty but her enviable wealth- their eyes sparkling with the dollar signs of their hefty commissions.

This morning cutting was to meet couture, as the 2 women more used to dressing in scrubs or sweats than satin and silk stepped into the luminous luxury of fashion's version of the doctor's waiting room. This was where people came to get a diagnosis- which fabric? Which colour? Which cut? To test out the antidotes and remedies- I'll take this, what bag matches that? To get it right and feel better.

Immediately Cristina and Meredith were homed in on by one of the Prada clones, all well cut suit, face full of make up, slicked back hair and an emotionless personality. As the young woman approached and came to a stop with a plastered on smile in front of them, Cristina took a deep breath and told herself, _quick and dirty Cristina!_

"I need an evening gown. I will only wear black, red or dark blue. Strapless or asymmetric necklines. I will need shoes, a hand bag and accessories." Cristina, feeling no need for friendly pleasantries, she was the customer after all, set out her preferences as if she was instructing her scrub nurse on the list of instruments required for a cardio procedure. "Got that?"

The sales girl, unused to being spoken to in such a dominant, brusque manner, was unsure how to respond. She stood frozen to the spot staring blankly at the formidable woman.

"So go get me some choices!" Cristina waved the girl away impatiently and sat down on the black leather sofa that stood outside the fitting room doors. Meredith, not used to shopping in such high end stores, was gazing around in open mouthed awe at the opulent fabrics and sparkling accessories. Embarrassed by her friend's lack of social etiquette Cristina pulled on Meredith's forearm forcing her to sit beside her, "Stop gawking!"

"Ladies, a complimentary glass of champagne while you wait?" A small, delicate Italian man appeared from nowhere proffering a silver tray with 2 slender crystal champagne flutes that hissed lightly with the effervescent bubbles.

"Thank you," Meredith quickly took one off the tray, before the offer was withdrawn, and waited for Cristina to take the other.

"I will take a glass water please." Cristina hesitated, her fingers moving towards the tray momentarily before she stopped herself placing her hand back into her lap. The man nodded at the request as he walked away to fetch it.

"You are going to need to drink tonight! The board Christmas party is the old boys network at it's best. You are going as the wife of the Chief. You will need to numb the pain of talking with a bunch of wrinkly old housewives!" Meredith shuddered at the memory of when she had attend this event in the same role.

Cristina was miles away, her arms folded around stomach, thinking about Owen and her son. She was wondering exactly when it was she had fallen so deeply in love with being part of a real family? How did the maternal instinct just switch itself on when your body nurtured and protected a baby? Somehow the science almost became secondary and the over riding certainty was the capacity to feel love for someone so truly, deeply and wholly that to remember your life before, without it's presence felt like a hole had opened up in your heart.

With a loud flourish the sales girl returned with a rack of beautiful gowns.

"Wow!" Meredith exclaimed, getting up to examine the dresses more closely, to run the fabrics through her fingers and admire the beading and details that had been meticulously placed and stitched. The stitching was almost as good as the sutures that Richard Webber had taught her I'm their private skills labs. "Wow!" she chocked again when she saw the price tags. "Cristina this one is over $6000!"

"Meredith, if you want the best you have to invest. Anyway Owen is paying!" Cristina quickly slid each dress from one end of the rack to the other, appraising them critically as she went, "no...no...hate it...no...maybe...will try this...no...no."

Picking up the 2 dresses, one navy blue, the other deep red, Cristina ducked into the fitting room and began to shed her clothes.

She stood in front of the mirror and let her eyes run over the body reflected back at her. She remembered how her body had changed during pregnancy, she had not expected Owen to embrace them quite so much, and how she had felt a certain sense of emptiness when she had given birth and the space that had contained the innocent hopes and dreams of a new life was left hollow and empty. Once again she traced the letter O across the skin of her belly, revelling in the comfort and meaning of the gesture, taking extra care to do it over the scar the icicle had left when her husband had removed it and healed the wound with his heart. A small smile crept across her mouth as she thought about the Christmas gift for Owen that sat in the drawer of her night stand. _Tonight, I will give it to him tonight._

Turning her full attention back to the dresses, she pulled the red one off it's hanger and began to wiggle herself inside the folds of silk

As Meredith waited for Cristina to emerge from the changing room she thought about how different her friend had become. When Burke had left her at the altar and fled Seattle, everyone including Cristina thought she had lost her one great love. But now everyone knew she had not at that point even met him. While Cristina was sorrowfully celebrating her liberation from Burke's tight grasp on her, the man who was to invade and claim the spoils of her heart, was fighting his own war for a different kind of liberty in the arid planes of the Iraqi desert.

The relationship between the two women had evolved in to something that was no less important to them but was less central, less insular. Their friendship now encompassed their husbands, who often went off to the bar or the woods to escape at the times when only the other twisted sister would suffice as a sounding board, and their children, who already shared a childlike version of a connection akin to their mothers.

Sneaking into the fitting room, impatient to see what a $6000 dress looked like, Meredith whispered, "Cristina, have you decided?"

"This one will do." Pulling back the velvet purple curtain, Cristina stepped forwards, standing under a spotlight that illuminated every aspect of her undeniably radiant beauty. The dark blue Grecian style silk dress draped around her petite frame perfectly. The material swished and sashayed as she moved as of it were dancing a foxtrot with her body as it's partner. The heart shaped neckline gave a subtle hint of the cleavage that lay beneath and the pale skin of her bare shoulders added a latent sexuality to the picture.

"It will do!" Meredith was exasperated. Turning Cristina towards the mirror she shook her shoulders quite vigourously, shaking the truth of the matter into her. "You look absolutely stunning."

Always having been a person to be comfortable to be praised for her brilliance of skill or of mind, Cristina was never one to be able to accept a comment about superficial things such as beauty so easily. Shrugging her shoulders and looking into the mirror, Cristina replied, "I'll take this one. Now go and get the sales girl to get me some silver shoes and a silver clutch bag,then let's get out of here, I'm starving."

"Owen is going to be in for a big surprise tonight!" Meredith laughed as she wandered towards the central display cabinet where the accessories were on show.

Stepping back behind the velvet curtain, Cristina whispered excitedly "He certainly is!" and with a swish of the curtain her secret surprise was safe once again in only her knowledge.

_To be continued..._


	36. Chapter 36

_Four hours later..._

"We're back!" Cristina called out into the open space as she and Meredith climbed the stairs to the firehouse expecting to hear the boisterous excitement and see the collateral damage of Zola and Daniel playing one of the many games that bought them such delight and their parent's ear drums despair.

Her words bounced back to her as they connected with a wall of total silence. Puzzled at the unusualness of the firehouse being empty of sound, Cristina dropped the shopping bags on top of the orange leather chaise that stood beside the stairs.

"Maybe Owen took them out?" Meredith mused, as she flopped down on the sofa in a happy champagne haze that had marked her first trip into the world of high fashion. She doubted she would ever return there alone but she had enjoyed the experience.

Casting her eyes quickly around the living room and kitchen but still seeing no signs of life, Cristina made her way towards the closed screen doors that separated the living room from her's and Owen's bedroom.

As she pulled open the doors, Cristina whispered and beckoned to Meredith to join her, "Mer, quick, come look!"

Heaving herself off the sofa, Meredith smiled at the picture that popped out against the backdrop of the contemporary bedroom.

Owen was lying fast asleep in the middle of the bed, his legs crossed over each other. Curled into his chest, just the way Cristina curled into him every night to hear his heartbeat, one on either side were two tiny bodies, thumbs in mouths. On the right was Zola, her head resting on top of his collar bone, her chubby fist clutching onto a handful of the Harvard hoodie, keeping her favourite uncle close. On the left was his son, his head directly over his father's heart, the beats like a metronome ticking away the minutes spent in security of his dreamland.

The three sets of lungs were breathing in cannon, like a Mexican wave rippling across the bed from right to left. Short breath, long breath, short breath. It was almost hypnotic in its innocent simplicity. Cristina suddenly felt a pinch of emotion in her own chest. This was exactly what Owen had been talking about when he had laid out his vision of the huge life he saw for them. Cristina could not see at the time how her life could contain anymore that surgery and her marriage but now she knew she could expand her life again and encompass even more. She now realised that It was the small moments, the simple pleasures of being with a child who knew you to be the one they relied on, sharing a touch or a look with a partner who carried you heart in their heart, to come home from the coldness of a surgical life and step i to and wrap yourself inside the warm blanket of a family. She now recognised that to define yourself as a mother or a wife or a cardio god did not have to be mutually exclusive, she was a chameleon, an every changing definition of her total self.

"I almost hate to disturb them!" Creeping over slowly to extricate Zola from the comfort of Owen's arms, Meredith prised her little fingers off the fabric of the jumper and lifted her sleepy daughter off the bed curling her into her own chest. Zola fidgeted slightly, physically trying to feel out the frame attached to the arms that now held her. Once she worked out it was her mother she sucked on her thumb noisily and went back to her dream of a tall red haired hero charging in on a white horse and rescuing the beautiful curly haired little princess who had been locked away in the ice castle by a very mean man.

"Just drop Daniel over when you are ready." Cristina nodded in agreement at her friend's instruction and gently rubbed Zola's back in a gesture of see you later before Meredith lowered her knees to grasp the handles of the shopping bags and exited the firehouse.

Cristina climbed into the space that was still warm from Zola and snuggled into her husband's side. His arm instinctively pulled her closer and anchored her to his body. A Beautifully familiar movement learnt and practiced over all the nights spent sleeping in each others arms. Cristina traced her fingers lightly over the planes of her son's face, being careful not to wake him. She mused at how peaceful he looked and how impenetrable the bond he shared with Owen was. Chief Webber had been right- surgery was her work but this right here- the peace and love she had found with Owen and their child- this was her gift.

Giving Owen a loving squeeze before Closing her eyes and drifting into sleep, Cristina's mind wandered further along the map of her life and taking some definite steps into her future she encountered a familiar stranger. She knew everything about them but yet so much was left, laying ahead unknown and untold.

_Later that same evening..._

Owen was standing at the top of the stairs waiting for Cristina to finish getting ready. He had already driven Daniel, a huge bag of toys and overnight things over to Meredith's. As soon as daniel had stepped through the door, he and Zola had launched into a noisy round of tag around the living room, dragging Lexie and jackson, who were watching a movie on the couch, into their game as hiding places.

"Cristina, the cab is waiting!" Owen called out impatiently, adjusting the black silk bow tie that completed his tuxedo. It would not look good for the Chief of Surgery to be late to his first official function

"Do I look like a Chief's wife?" Emerging from the bedroom, Cristina stopped arms length away from her husband to allow his eyes space to carry out a well focused appraisal of the dress she had picked out earlier that afternoon.

"No you don't." Stepping forward before the worried look that had overtaken his wife's beautifully made up face, threatened to turn into pure anger to be directed soley at him for saying the wrong thing. "You look just like my beautiful Cristina. Totally you, totally mine." He took her into his arms and kissed her tenderly.

As she pulled her lips away from Owen's, there was no time to allow them to totally melt into his, as it would just lead to frustration at not being able to take things further, Cristina felt an overwhelming need to share her secret, like the words may explode from her mouth unbidden, but she held back. This was not a bomb to be dropped and then stepped over in haste to get to the next checkpoint.

"You owe me big time for this, you hear me?" Cristina playfully informed her husband as she snaked her arms around his waist.

Resting his hands in the small of her back, his fingers languidly caressing her skin through the sheer fabric of the dress creating a beautiful friction of unexplored promise. "I will make it up to you...many, many times!" Owen murmured against her cheek before sealing the treaty with a soft, slow kiss on the corner of her mouth.

"Come on then Chief. Let's get this torture over with."

_At the party..._

The downside of being the Chief at events like the Seattle Grace Mercy West Christmas party was that you were expected to attend with your spouse and then you actually didn't get to spend anytime with them.

Catching sight of his wife across the sea of people his new position forced him to engage with, Owen noticed Cristina was nursing the still full champagne glass she had picked up when they walked in and had a glazed, distracted look on her face as she stood slightly to the side of the group of women whose husbands ran the hospital. She was nodding intermittently to show she was listening to Mrs Jennings tell her about the latest cruise she had taken, but Owen could tell Cristina was a million miles away.

Excusing himself from the elder board members who had been listening eagerly his proposals for budgetary savings in the OR over the next fiscal year, Owen weaved his way across the room, his steps walking a familiar path towards the destination that made him feel complete.

Slipping his arm around his wife's waist and pulling her slightly backwards into his chest, Owen breathed in her scent and whispered directly in her ear, "hey stranger! You ok?"

As her husband's arm snaked sound her waist, Cristina's body had tensed slightly, fearing the secret would be uncovered before she had the chance to unveil it to him in the way she wanted to. Turning her head sideways to look into the bright blue eyes that

"I am now." Slipping her own hand under Owen's around her waist, she began to relax slightly. "Can we go now! I turn into a pumpkin at midnight!"

"you look absolutely stunning." spinning her round to face him, Owen gazed into the deep brown eyes that tonight sparkled with something he likened to slightly worried anticipation. He suddenly felt a need to reassure her, to remind her that inspire of practically ignoring her this evening, through no fault of his own but due to the bondage of his position as a leader. Resting his hand lightly on her cheek, her eyes momentarily closing to savour his touch, Owen rested his forehead against her's and told he the 3 words his heart had never been able to deny in connection to this woman. "I. ."

Tilting her head to catch his lips in her's, Cristina did not need to repeat the phrase for Owen to know she felt it. In this moment she felt they were being intruded upon, she wanted to be with just Owen in their firehouse. "Let's go home."

Owen had made good on his promise and Cristina now lay I. His arms, basking in the come down from the sweet ecstasy of the high she had both given and taken from her husband. As their hands lazily caressed each others bodies, Cristina wriggled to turn herself towards the edge of the bed.

"Hang on!" She laughed as Owen's hand ran down her back, bringing prickly goosebumps and a shiver of excitement over every pore of her exposed skin. She reached over and eased open the drawer of the night stand, rifled through the messy contents and pulled out a long, rectangular silver box tied with a red Christmas ribbon. "Here you go Chief. I have an early Christmas gift for you!" She laid the box on Owen's bare chest and curled back into his side. "Open it."

"But it isn't Christmas yet!" Adjusting his body, pulling Cristina with him, so they were both sitting up against the pillows, entwined in both each other and the bed sheets, Owen looked quizzically at the box. It looked like it could be a watch? Or a pen maybe? Intrigued, he carefully untied the bow that held the box together.

"Well call it a Hanukah gift then." Her tone was impatient. She had been keeping the secret of this gift for almost a week and it was killing her. "Just open it!"

Cristina was slightly nervous. She was unsure how this gift would be received by her husband, she could honestly say she did not know how he would feel about the contents of the box. One thing she was sure of was how she felt about it. She had chosen to give him this gift in a private moment of intimacy in their home with the man she would love for life. She wanted to do it right, she had learnt from her past mistakes, to make it special for him, for them.

"whatever you say!" Lifting off the lid of the box Owen furrowed his brow as he looked down at the white plastic object. _What is it_! He wondered. He turned it over in the box and his eyes immediately focussed on the square window which was crossed through with 2 dark pink dissecting lines.

"Cristina..." His voice faltered as waves of joy, surprise and question overtook his ability to form a coherent sentence.

"We're pregnant." She cupped his face in her hands and pulled him close for a lingering kiss that told him that this time, for her, there was to be no pause, no shred of doubt, absolutely no question.

**Author's note: this is a just bridging chapter to move us forward a little! As I promised I would keep this story going to SP we are nearing the end now- 2 weeks to go! I plan to write 3 to 4 more chapters to finish it, hopefully before 22 September.**

**I would love to know from you guys which have been your favourite chapters. So please review or tweet me (hannahadsmith).**

**Once new season starts I hope there will be some great jumping off points to write more Cristina and Owen one shots or new stories!xxxxxxxxxxx**


	37. author's note

**Author's note: Well it has been a while! I am so sorry I have not updated this story since the new season began. I admit I have been unable to "see" Daniel in the wake of the way the storyline has played out on screen (sad face!) but after some words of encouragement from some dear readers I am back with a venegence to finish this story as I first imagined it. (happy face!)**

**I guess now it could be consider almost an AU! So we are going to be getting a new chapter up this week. I hope that you all enjoy finishing this journey with me over the next few chapters.**

**I am also looking for some ideas for some new Cristina/Owen stuff to write, so holler! Maybe some one shots?**

**So off I go to write! Happy to be back and let's get reading!xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**


	38. Chapter 38

**Author's note: apologies if the timeline has gone a bit astray but needed Daniel to be communicative at this point in the story! Also I use his inner world as a vehicle for exploration of his perspective of his parents. The situations described are drawn from personal experience of a 2 year old son! Read, review or tweet me (hannahadsmith).xxx lots of **

Tornados. Natural phenomenons that sweep everything in their paths into their rushing embrace. The clash of both hot and cold building to a pressure, created out of a passionate friction that cannot be contained. They are Beautifully destructive, forces to be reckoned with. There is always collateral damage in the aftermath and all you can do is stand back, survey the wreckage and marvel at the power.

At 2 years and a half years old, Daniel Hunt had developed into a small boy with a fierce desire to explore, learn and experiment. He would constantly ask "why" questions and loved spending time in the place where he witnessed his parents come alive with skill and passion. He knew his parents did the same job, but worked on different parts of people's bodies. He also noticed that his mother and father were very different in the way they approached their work and their patients.

Watching his father bent over his paperwork in the large conference room above the OR's, Daniel always felt a sense of restlessness, like his father was a coiled slinky spring waiting to be let free to stretch out its stored velocity and bounce. Whenever Owen's pager would beep to life, Daniel immediately noticed a lightness over take his father's face. Although Daniel was not always allowed to see Owen working on some of the more brutal trauma cases he had seen him stride into the ER and take charge. He saw how others just followed when his father was in command, just like when Daniel played battles with his toy soldiers.

His mother now, well she was totally different. She walked the halls with an air of authority that belied both her petite stature and the light blue scrubs of relative inexperience. Her son sometimes noticed others shrink away from her clipped tone of voice or her throw away gestures of expectation. This confused the small boy, Daniel knew this tiny woman to be loving, warm and fun but at work she was fierce and slightly colder, more detached. He wondered why she was different from the mummy that came to see him in daycare and read with him as he stretched across her lap or the mummy that came home and sat on the floor of the bathroom when he was on the tub and asked him about his day or played splash games with him.

But when she was near his father she changed. She soften, she opened up and it felt like her son could actually see her own heart chambers change beat to fall into step with this man. Cristina had sat with her son curled in her lap, showing Daniel pictures of the human heart in books and explaining to him every aspect of it's fascinating structure and make up. He knew this organ was where you held your love for people and that he had a lot of people in his life who held him within their own chambers.

Daniel spent a lot of time within the walls of Seattle Grace Mercy West. If he was not in the daycare or with his father in his office he was being taken to explore the other parts of the hospital. He had been taken to the skills lab by his Aunt Meredith, where he and Zola had played with some of the instruments. He had sat with Richard Webber and been allowed to press the computer buttons to take the images of a CT scan on a 7 year old boy who had swallowed some marbles. Daniel found it strange that someone would want to eat marbles, why not just eat chocolate! His favourite activity so far had been with his Aunt Callie. He had been given a small hammer and helped her to smash up old plaster casts. He had loved how unregulated and freeing this activity had been. There were no rules, no particular style to it- just hit it as hard as you can and watch the fragments shatter and split off into a fine white powder that covered the room like a first snow.

On this particular morning, Daniel didn't feel like keeping to his usual routine. He felt like exploring familiar territory in an unfamiliar way. Climbing out of his wooden bed, Daniel ran lightly in to the living room, his eyes filling with mischief as his imagination kicked into gear and he could see the raw materials needed for his experiment in front of him.

_In the master bedroom..._

"mmmmmh," Owen stretched his arms above his head and rolled over onto his back. His wife's eyelids were fluttering, fighting their desire to open. "Good morning beautiful."

"Morning." Cristina murmured, curling herself into the warmth of her husband's side. She loved these easy mornings where time seemed to stop and all that existed was this little pocket of space she shared with the man who had literally melted her heart. Owen lazily slid his palm across Cristina's stomach. She was 4 days away from giving birth to their second child and this time there was not the weight of fear or doubt pressing on her chest. She knew she could raise a baby and be a surgeon. She was no longer an intern, struggling to master the maternal procedures. She had committed the techniques of feeding, soothing and bathing to her muscle memory, researched modes of learning through play and stimulation and stood back and enjoyed seeing her little boy begin to find his way in the world.

"What you thinking about?" Owen pressed a kiss on her cheek and wriggled down the bed to repeat the gesture on the swell of her stomach.

"Just thinking about the transplant I did yesterday." Cristina grazed her fingertips absentmindedly in circles across Owen's back. "wondering what the first thought the patient has when they wake up after such a life altering change."

"thinking about surgery! Of course!" Owen playfully rolled his eyes. He knew his wife would never lose her desire to cut!

"No, I wasn't! Well, I was but not the actual procedure. I was just thinking about how things are going to change for us all over again. It was the 2 of us, then Daniel and now soon baby Meredith" Cristina let the name casually hang in the air, anticipating her husband's response.

Turning his head over, resting it gently in her lap, so he was staring her square in the eye "if this baby is a girl, we are not calling her meredith! One meredith in my life is enough." The jest in his tone, was undercut with an air of seriousness that communicated to his wife all the moments of tension, albeit less frequent as time marched forwards, between Cristina's soul-mate, Meredith Grey, and her soul-love, Owen Hunt.

"Relax!" Cristina shifted in the bed, sitting up a little straighter, trying to get comfortable. She pulled her husband's head up to rest on her chest, as the baby had shifted position and was pressing on her bladder. "It's a boy anyway!"

"Care to wager on that, Mrs Hunt?" As he referred to her using the title that marked her as his, tied tight to his side as a true partner, Owen lightly grazed a kiss over the spot where her wedding rings sometimes rested. His contentment in his marriage was all the more poignant knowing the battles they had forged head on into and come through together, sometimes weary and wounded but victorious in the spoils of knowing each others hearts and understanding their individually shared rhythms.

"You know I only play to win, Chief. So show me your hand!" she twisted his own wedding band around on his finger and reflected on the fact that through all the ups and downs of their married life it had remained steadfast on his left hand. A clear message to her that he was a man of his word- he really would stay through it all, because he loved her. It had taken Cristina a while to get it, to really get that Owen was not like Burke. He wouldn't retreat no matter how far she pushed him into enemy territory. Owen would advance, his only goal to invade and conquer the life that for the first time they both could see clearly.

"ok! I will consult with my son and let him help me come up with a suitable fore fit for when his mother is proved wrong!" Owen grinned and Cristina could not help smiling at how much delight overtook her husband when he spoke of or thought about his child. There was still a tiny ache in her gut when the fleeting thought that because of her own fears she could have taken away the chance for Owen to be the amazing father he was. In those moments of doubt she had been frozen, rooted to the spot unable to reach the man who was desperately trying to temper his joyful strides into his vision of their future as he knew she was not in step. But now, they were further down the path, striding forwards in to the next phase awaiting directions from the new traveller who was a few steps behind, but they would soon be ready to join the journey.

"Owen, I love you." taking his face in her hands and drawing him up towards her own, Cristina crinkled her nose and rubbed it Eskimo style against his. Those 3 words, murmured so frequently but their meaning never diluted.

"I love you too." Owen left his reply against her lips and nuzzled into her neck.

"Hang on! Where is Daniel?". Cristina suddenly exclaimed, jolting owen from the comfort of his position. This was odd. The firehouse was eerily silent and Daniel was not in their bed. Whenever they had days off he would come into their room, jump on their bed and snuggle in between them, bringing a story book to read.

"In his room, still asleep I guess." Owen too was a little puzzled, as he pulled on some shorts as he moved towards the door. "I'll go check."

_Seconds later..._

"Cristina, can you come out here...NOW!" came her husbands voice, agitated and an octave higher than normal.

Heaving her very heavy, extremely pregnant body out of the bed and pulling on Owen's bathrobe, Cristina padded into the living room and gasped at the sight she was greeted with.

The sofa cushions and pillows were flung all over the floor, the medical journals that usually neatly adorned the bookshelves were haphazardly strewn all over every available surface, cereal was scattered in a trail reminiscent of hansel and Grettel from the kitchen to the edge of the open plan living space. It looked like their home had been ransacked.

"What have you done?" Cristina shrieked.

"I'm playing!" Daniel stated in a tone that made it clear he thought his mummy was a little slow. Could she not see it was a game?

"Daniel Michael Hunt!" Cristina chided her son, desperate to avert the next crisis. The peaceful start to the day off had quickly descended into chaos.

"I will grab the broom for the cereal." Owen ruffled his son's thick black hair as he headed towards the bathroom cupboard to find it.

Cristina, shaking her head, lamented the fact that her son was too like her. She had to admit, whilst her traits of stubbornness, tenacity, single mindedness, that were mirrored in this tiny boy, would bode well for the future they were testing his parents to the limits. Owen lamented the fact that his 2 year old son was as messy as his mother. There had been numerous occasions when he had tripped over toys that cluttered the floor or had to wade through piles of clothes thrown out of the drawers on a whim to find a remote control or mobile phone his son had squirrelled away.

As his mother turned towards the sofa to begin picking up some of the mess, Daniel spied his next weapon of mass destruction. Gleefully clasping it in his hand he exclaimed, "mummy, me draw now!" and poked the crayon into her back.

"ouch! Daniel!" Rubbing her already pretty sore lower back Cristina turned to face her son. "No drawing now, let's tidy this mess first?"

"want to draw...NOW!" Daniel stamped his foot on the wooden floor and a dark look fell across his delicate features.

"Give mummy the crayon" changing her approach, Cristina came down to Daniel's level, getting, gingerly, on to her knees on the hardwood floor, and smiled at him offering her open palm for him to place the fluorescent blue crayon he was brandishing like a scalpel in.

"No!" Bellowed Daniel, his huge brown eyes narrowing in defiance. He stuck his tongue out at his mother before spinning round towards the wall behind the sofa, making contact with the tip of the crayon and running round the room giggling as he left bright blue stripes in his wake against the cream paintwork.

"Stop it right now!" Cristina's tone was stern. Daniel momentarily stopped and tilted his head to consider the pitch of the demand. _Mummy isn't shouting so I think I can carry on! _Daniel reasoned in comparison to other occasions when his mother had really raised her voice. Jumping on the spot as if to garner some more energy, Daniel tightened his grip on the crayon, put it back to the wall and sped off in the opposite direction.

"Owen! Owen!" still trying to lever herself up off the floor, Cristina knew she needed reinforcements.

"Hang on!" Came the tired reply from the bathroom. Owen had entered the bathroom to find a second sight of the one child tornado that was sweeping through the firehouse. Shaving foam, mingled with water had flooded the bathroom floor, the sink was full of toothpaste and the shower curtain was half hanging off it's pole.

Just as he was attaching the last hook of the shower curtain back onto the pole, the light, fast footsteps of his son running across the hardwood floors danced in his ears

"Daddy! Daddy!" Daniel babbled hurriedly "Mummy's made mess!"

"Ok buddy! Hang on!" Owen chuckled as he jumped back to the floor from his position balancing on the side of the bath. He knew full well Cristina would not even know where to start in cleaning up the destruction, she was the one who had imparted the messy gene to their child. Owen struggled to walk as Daniel, attached like a limpet to his leg, frantically made his way back to the living room, dragging his father behind him.

Owen stepped through the kitchen and came to an abrupt stop at the edge of the living room. He shook his head and blinked a couple of times to ensure his eyes were not playing tricks on him.

"Look daddy! A mess!" Daniel, taking great delight in the fact his mother was going to be told off, pointed to Cristina, who was on all fours, leaning her elbows on two haphazardly assembled pile of medical journals. Her tiny shoulders were heaving up and down as she tried to pull some oxygen into her system.

"Cristina..." Before Owen could complete his sentence, his wife's dry tone cut across him stating, in a calm, conversational tone, the simple facts of the matter at hand.

"Baby number 2 is obviously a home bird! My waters just broke and I am going to have to push! Right now!"


	39. Chapter 39 the new arrival

**Author's note: I didn't think I was going to write a second birth chapter but it kind of felt like I had too. There is a degree of dramatic licence with the birth process as I have never experienced a home birth myself! (two hospital births and epidurals!)Hope you like! Read, review and tweet me people! Lots of **

"I...ummmm...what...how..." Owen stammered as he struggled to find his voice. All he could do was stand and stare agog at the fact that his wife was in actual labour in their actual living room.

"Shut up and be a trauma surgeon!" Cristina growled as a strong contraction gripped her tiny body in its fierce stranglehold. "Put Daniel in his room, get some gloves and deliver your baby!"

Grateful for the direct and straight forward orders, Major Owen Hunt immediately joined them in the room. He nodded and took control of the emergent situation that had presented itself on this otherwise usual Saturday morning.

"Danny let's go!" Gently pressing his hands onto his son's shoulders he turned him in the direction of the bedrooms and frogmarched him away from his mother who was shifting to find a marginally more comfortable position as the contractions upped the ante and took her body as their prisoner. Tears stung in her eyes as she had to consciously instruct herself to breathe and physically force the air into her lungs in order to ride the waves of pain she was currently trying to stay afloat within.

Owen grabbed a clean towel from the drawer of the dresser, threw it over the back of the chair and then dropped to his knees at the side of the bed, pulled out his green medical bag from underneath and frantically rifled through it looking for gloves, scissors to cut the cord and some swabs. As he did so the military trained trauma surgeon silently lamented the fact that he had not taken more of an interested in his obs and gynae rotation as a young resident. The, in his opinion, delicate specialty had not sat well with his action seeking, all guns blazing, quick and dirty trauma side and there had really been no call to deliver any babies on the battlefield. The weight of the responsibility facing him pressed on his chest and he, for a moment, closed his eyes, placed his hand on his heart and focused on his breathing to steady the beats.

"Daddy, what doing?" Daniel whispered nervously, as he hovered at the foot of his parents bed. When he had rushed into the bathroom to tell his father about the watery mess his mother had made on the hardwood floor he had not meant to cause trouble. He was worried he had been bad and was now going to be in trouble.

Hearing the fear in his son's fragile voice felt like being cut to the very core with a carbonised scalpel. As a father he never wanted his son to feel unsure or upset. Owen knew he needed to take a moment and explain to Daniel what he had just witnessed happening to his mother and prepare him for the fact that by the end of today they would have a new piece joining their family puzzle.

Walking round to the foot of the bed and scooping his tiny boy up into the safety of his muscular arms, Owen sat down on the bed and snuggled Daniel into his lap, as Daniel linked his arms round his daddy's neck. Owen began to find the words his son's ears needed to hear to settle his heart. "Do you remember when mummy and I talked to you about how a new baby would be coming to live here with us?" Owen waited a beat for Daniel to search his memory bank and recall the conversation.

"Baby in mummy tummy!" Daniel said proudly, gazing into his father's blue eyes waiting to be praised for his intelligence.

A small smile crept across Owen's face, only the son of Cristina Yang would remember the science part! "That's right buddy. Well, now the baby needs some help to get here and mummy needs Daddy to help too."

As he listened to his father's explanation, Daniel let his mind wander off into the realms of wondering what this new baby would be like... _Will __they __be __bossy __like __Zola, __or __a __thinker __like __Sofia? __Will __they __make __me __play __fairy __tea __party __with __them __like __I __have __to __when __mummy __takes __me __to __play __at __Aunt __Meredith's __house? __I __hope __they __like __playing __trains __like __I __do __with __Tuc. __He __is __my __grown __up __friend, __he __is __nearly a whole __8 years old!_

"So how about you go into your bedroom for a little while and make the baby a hello picture? And I will come and get you when they get here. Ok?" Not wanting to rush his son or for him to feel pushed out, Owen was aware of the urgent fact that he needed to get back to the side of his wife.

"I go draw!" Daniel excitedly squealed as he extricated himself from his father's embraced and dashed off to his room to find the marker pens his uncle Alex had bought hims when he had taken him to the hospital gift shop and Daniel had used all his wit and wiles to get his unsuspecting supervisor to buy them even though his mother had already vetoed the pens as too messy in the hands of the mischievous boy. Totally underwhelmed and unaffected by the fact that their lives were on the verge of great change, Daniel's mind was full of patterns and colour combinations to put in his picture.

"Owen...Owen...Owen". The desperate, pained cries of his wife cut across the stillness of the firehouse, travelling through the wall and stirred Owen into action. He jumped up from the bed, grabbed the towel and supplies and raced into the living room.

By this time the contractions were one on top of another, with only a few moments in between to catch a breath or take any small comfort in the respite from the pain. Cristina was really trying to relax and hum pretty loudly to work through them, her eyes closed to concentrate.

"How far along is this? I need to push!" Her voice was full of panic and anxiety but as her brown eyes locked with her husband's sparkling blue ones she began to feel slightly more centred.

Owen positioned himself on the floor and pulled on the sterile gloves, "I am going to take a look, ok?" He automatically found himself adopting his consulting tone of voice as to all intense and purposes his wife was his patient.

At Daniel's birth Owen had been very much at the head end of the bed, Cristina feeling that for the sake of their sex life he did not need to see the birth process in its full glory. This time, her pain so strong and feeling totally exposed, she had no choice but to totally let her barriers down. Due to the unexpected nature of the occasion, she needed him to be the doctor not the birth partner, not the husband.

"It is not supposed to happen this way!" Without any fore shadow tears began to stream down Cristina's face as she choked the words through both the hormonal haze of overwhelming emotions and fierce physical pain. "I did it this way with Daniel...this time I am meant to be in the hospital, in maternity…...with drugs!"

"Honey, I know this is not how you planned it. But you are almost there, I promise." Owen's tone was full of love for and pride in his wife. In this moment he was completely in awe of her strength and her capacity to show him her vulnerability. "I can see the head!"

_There __is __no __going __back._ Cristina thought to herself as she gripped onto her knees and braced her feet against Owen's thighs to gain some traction for the pushing phase._Just __trust __your __body, i__t __knows __what __to __do._

Sucking in the biggest breath her body could take she began to bear down as the contraction dipped into its temporary lull.

"Push, Cristina! You are doing great! Almost there!" Owen encouraged as he monitored the progress as the head began to slowly advance.

"Shut up!" Cristina found enough energy in the midst of the battle her body was fighting with her baby- one to eject and the other to hold fast, a battle of wills that could only end one way- to screech the command at her husband. "Oww! Owww! It is burning!"

She could not remember the pain being this bad when she delivered Daniel. It felt like her body was a furnace and the walls of the firehouse began spin and close in on her. The burning was reaching a fever pitch and Cristina instinctively began to pant, knowing from research more than experience, that the head was about to be delivered.

Owen rubbed the lower part of his wife's leg, wanting to show her he loved her, that he was there for her, that he would take all her pain away if he could.

Cristina groaned as another strong contraction held her hostage, she pushed down as hard as she could and "pop!" the head was out!

"Ok, you have done the hard part! I can see our baby's face!" Owen's voice cracked with emotion as he was transfixed by how beautiful his child looked, even in the middle of the natural processes of birth.

With something that sounded like a cross between a scream and a roar, Cristina, urged forward by the fact that Owen was seeing their child and she wasn't, pushed again from her core. The baby turned and one shoulder, followed by the other emerged into the world. With one final push the newest member of the hunt family slid graciously into the world.

This time there was no sterile room, none of the bright lights of the OR, no medicine. Their daughter had literally become the heart of their home. Born into the warmth of the firehouse that her mother had bought for the man who had changed the course of her life and the beats of her heart.

Owen immediately wrapped the tiny baby in the towel, cut the cord and pressing her into his chest began to rub vigorously to raise a sound from the tiny lungs. "Cristina we have a daughter! She is beautiful!"

"She hasn't made a sound yet. Is she ok?...Owen, talk to me….." Her exhausted voice was barely above a whisper and her eyes were shut tight, the fear of her child slipping away welding them closed off to the horrifying possibility. She couldn't catch a glimpse of her precious child and then see her slip away in front of her. She saw death and loss every day in the OR on the wards but here in her home, she would not, could not contemplate losing a part of her and her husband.

"She will..." Owen tried to sound calm but his own heart was racing as he began to silently plead and bargain with God and science- _come__on,__please..__Please_!

"Hic!" The tiny snuffling sound and the vibration of the small body against Owen's hardened one made his stomach flip, swiftly followed by relief flooding his system as the high pitched cry that only a newborn can produce danced its exquisite symphony across the air.

"Hi there little lady!" Owen cooed as he lifted his daughter up and placed her skin to skin on Cristina's chest.

As soon as mother and daughter made that first contact the baby fell into contented silence, she was back where she felt her safest.

"Hello beautiful girl." Cristina whispered against the fuzzy brown hair that covered her daughters head, relief, pride and pure love flooding her system that had previousl been occupied by pain, fear and doubt. "Welcome home."

The tiny rosebud mouth furrowed against her mother's chest seeking a source of comfort. Cristina was amazed at how she knew exactly how to latch on and she stroked her silky soft cheek as she began to fill herself up from her mother's breast.

Owen dispensed with the after birth, cleaned Cristina up a little and pulled off his gloves before crawling up next to his wife and daughter to wrap them in his arms.

"She is perfect! You did so great!" Owen took his wife's face in his hand and laid a gentle, deep kiss on her lips, physically telling her his heart. His gaze fell onto his daughter. _My__daughter!_ The love he had for his children was the same and in these moments straight after the birth he was feeling the same pride, the same joy and the same anxieties he had felt in the moments after Daniel's birth. But yet it was different- when his son was born his first thoughts had been how do we raise a great man? But now looking at his daughter he mused on how now he was going to be raising a strong, independent women for a great man. He wished for his daughter a heart like her mothers- loyal and not given away easily, but once you had earned her love she bestowed it upon you so openly that it made you feel rich. For him, being loved by Cristina Yang had bought him more than money, career or status ever could. He could live without those things but he could not exist without his wife or their children.

"I love you." Cristina murmurred against his beard. Yet again she was overwhelmed by her husband's capacity to be exaclty the man she needed him to be in whatever situation they found themselves in. Today he had proved that he really was by her side every step of the way. She had to admit that if she had not been in so much pain she would have found it hysterical that her big, burly solider of a husband had today been a midwife!

Looking her man sqaure in the eyes, she jokingly teased, "But don't ever give up trauma for OB!"

Owen laughed out loud and shook his head. "I am going to get Daniel to meet his sister!"

Owen stood for a moment at the entrance to his son's bedroom before he called him over. He was happily sitting on the floor playing with his train track and Owen felt almost guilty disturbing him. "Daniel there is someone here for you to meet."

"The baby! The baby!" Daniel excitedly jumped up, picked up a piece of paper from the floor and launched himself into his father's open arms.

When they arrived back in the living room, Cristina and the now slumbering baby, had moved themselves to a sitting postioin on the couch.

Daniel climbed up onto the sofa and pressed himself into his mother's side, just like he did every day they spent together in the firehouse. Cristina wrapped her free arm around her son and connected him into the moment. Owen sat on the arm of the couch, a little higher than his family, like a bird of prey casting their eyes around protecting his own from potential danger.

"Well, Daniel this is your baby sister." Cristina smiled at her son, as he looked intently at the tiny person pursing her lips and wiggling her fingers in his mother's arms.

"It's my baby!" Daniel informed his parents matter-of-factly. He bent over and lightly kissed the back of his sister's head. He did not understand the sweetness of the gesture but it was not lost on his parent's whose hearts both swelled with pride at how their son was growing into a caring and considerate little boy.

"Yes she is!" But we need to give her a name." Cristina informed both Owen and Daniel.

"Any ideas?" Owen moved round, to sit where Daniel was, moving the little boy into his lap.

"I was meant to have 4 more days to think about it! But someone was in too much of a hurry to get here!" Cristina shifted her little girl around so she was lying with her head on her chest.

"What about Ella?" Owen tentatively put the suggestion for a Christian name on the table. They had already agreed during the pregnancy that if the baby was a girl her middle name would be Susan, after his own mother.

"Hmm, Ella…Ella…hmm" Cristina tried the name on for size and looked at her daughter from various angles to see if it suited her. "Do you know what it means?"

Pulling his phone out of his pocket, Owen quickly googled it. "Ella means bright light."

Looking down at the tiny woman in her arms, Cristina knew her daughter by name. "Welcome to the family Ella Susan Hunt."

Bright light. There had been a lot of darkness in the lives of both parents of this child, both together and apart. But throught the darkness somehow there was always just enough light, however dim at times for them to see each other. They had adjusted their vision and adapted, allowing the darkness to be a part of their journey. As Richard Webber had told Daniel as a baby, you have to sit in the dark, so when you get back to the light you can see all the colours. Now the colours in the Hunt family were vivid. There was nothing but colour. The light, in the forms of a son and a daughter, had flooded in and bathed its parents in it warming and sustaining glow.


	40. Author's request

Author's note: a few more chapters to go until I close off this story, that started as what I would like to see happen after season 7 finale and kind of turned into AU thanks to Shonda!

So I thought we could have a reminisce and you could give me an idea of where to go...so...**tell****me****what****was****your****favourite****chapter****and****why?**


	41. Chapter 41

We play many roles in our lives- child, lover, spouse, parent, friend, teacher, boss colleague. Human beings are in fact chameleons, constantly changing and adapting to fit ourselves into the role our current environment requires us to adopt. How often do we question which role is the most important? Which is the hardest? Which brings the greatest joy? Which gets the most of our attention? Can one person truly be defined so narrowly as only inhabiting the one role that to the outside world appears to be their favourite? Behind closed doors, if we were to play the silent observer, we may be surprised to see a different side to someone we thought we had easily pigeon holed.

_11am..._

As Chief Owen Hunt addressed the board, pitching a proposal put forward by one of the cardio fellows to expand the existing Trauma unit at SGMW in the hopes of becoming the country's leading specialist Cardiac trauma centre, he let his mind whizz through the list of things he had to do once he cast off the boss' lab coat and adopted his familial roles of father and husband for the rest of the day.

Just as he had been about to walk into the conference room Cristina had paged him to let him know she had been pulled into the OR with Teddy on a procedure that would last well past her originally planned half day, early finish shift. So that meant that their children's afternoon and bedtime routine was all on him for the first time in two months, since the number of small inhabitants in the firehouse had doubled.

_Ok, so I have to, leave her early...Pick up Daniel from hospital day care, quickly go to supermarket and buy dinner and diapers, drive to my mom's, pick up Ella, drive both children home, bathe them, cook Daniel meal, prepare Ella bottle, feed them, play with them, read them a story (or medical journal, as Cristina assured him that Daniel himself chose on occasion), put them to bed, do laundry, clean up, cook meal for Cristina and myself ready for when she gets back. Oh and pray I don't get paged so I have a hope in hell of getting it all done!_

This working parent thing was no joke! Turning his attention back to his meeting he smiled professionally as he asked the board members, "Does anyone have any questions?"

_An hour later..._

Before he made his way back to his office to grab his jacket and keys, Owen took a detour to the gallery of OR2 to catch a glimpse of the wife he had not seen all day. That was one of the things he struggled with in his new role, not getting to work with her very often, to witness her talent or to share in her medical victories. The gallery was full, as it normally was, and no one was surprised to see the Chief of Surgery watching over proceedings due to the fact his wife was the one holding the scalpel. Owen watched her hands deftly manipulate the tissue of the heart, switching off instruments in her hand with precision and expertise. A thought of those same hands on his body caused him to clear his throat nervously, as if the whole gallery could tell what dirty thoughts were running through his synapses. Casting one last look of pride and love down on his wife he nodded to his staff and hurried to his office to get ready to leave the hospital.

_Up in the hospital day care..._

"Daddy!" Daniel Hunt flew towards his father, wrapping his whole body around his legs, nearly knocking Owen clean off his feet.

"Hey buddy. You ok?" Owen scooped his little boy up into his arms, forgetting how much bigger he had gotten in the past few months.

"Where's mama?" Daniel was confused. He was excited for his father to pick him up but when things changed he always worried he had been bad.

"Mummy has to help fix someone's heart." Owen looked lovingly at his son and pecked a kiss on his nose, raising a giggle from the small boy. "So I am going to need your help until she gets home ok?"

"I help you." Daniel declared proudly, slinging down Owen's body and running towards his cubby to pick up his lunch box and coat. Owen smiled, _I got this. How hard can getting two children organised and into bed be?_

The trip to the supermarket was simple and stress free. Daniel sat in the cart placing the items his father passed to him into the basket and happily headed the money to the cashier when they reached the checkout. The Hunt men arrived at Susan's house. Owen took over burping Ella, resting the tiny infant against his broad chest gently tapping her back as she snuffled against his black t shirt. Daniel climbed into his grandmother's lap and told her about the new toys he had acquired since he saw her the previous week. Susan's own blue eyes shone with pride at the sight of her beloved only son and the beautiful family he had created out of his cherished love for the woman she now regarded as her own daughter.

"Right guys, we have to get home now." Owen stood and lowered Ella into her car seat. She squirmed as he placed a steadying hand lightly on her abdomen as he clipped the straps together to secure her for the journey.

Jumping down from the embrace of his grandmother, Daniel stared definitely at his father and shouted at the top of his lungs, "No! Me not go!" The child did not wait for a response but instead turned on his heels and ran into the bathroom, slamming the door behind him.

Exasperated, Owen look at his mother, "What is all that about?"

"He is a little boy, exercising his sense of control. You think you never had meltdowns Owen Joseph Hunt!" Susan chuckled and began re-packing Ella's changing bag.

Owen sighed deeply. He was already tired and really did not want tot deal with a stroppy 2 and a half year old this evening. Walking into the bathroom, easing the door open he could see Daniel sitting crossed legged on the floor, a dark look of tension across the delicate features of his face. Owen had seen that same look on Cristina many a time in the OR when a resident, or even himself as her attending, had dared to question her decision making.

"Danny we have to go and get ready for Mama to come home, ok?" Owen took an open armed step towards his son ready to pick him up. Daniel jumped up and Owen thought he had averted this particular crisis and they could leave his mother's house and start the drive home.

The Chief was wrong.

Daniel turned his back on his father and gripped onto the side of the bath tub, anchoring himself in the space.

Owen took a deep breath to calm his own rising frustrations and lifted him at the waist to get him out of the room. "No! No! No!" He screamed as he kicked and fought against his father's hold on him.

"Stop it!" Owen said firmly. "Let go!" he knelt down, still holding the lower half of Daniel's body and tried with one hand to gently prise his fingers off the rim of the roll top bath.

"No! Get off!" Daniel began to cry, his grip tightening and Owen could feel his son's temperature rise as the tantrum completely took him over.

_What would Cristina do?_ Owen thought. This was now a battle that he needed to win.

Adjusting his hold on the still flailing child, Owen spoke clearly, explaining how the next few minutes was going to play out. "I am going to count to five and you are going to let go of the bath. We have to go, you can see Grandma tomorrow." He paused for a beat and counted back from five. As the numbers descended he could feel some of the tension ebb out of Daniel to be replaced with sobs that shook his system like the hiccups. "Good boy."

Owen carried Daniel out of the bathroom, hooked Ella's car seat over his wrist and let his mother put the bag over his shoulder. They bade their farewells and once both children were secure in the back of the car, Ella gurgling contentedly, Daniel supine toy sulking, Owen turned over the ignition and began counting down the hours till their bed time.

Daniel refused to eat his supper and another tantrum had kicked off when Owen had refused to supplement the grilled chicken and vegetables for chicken nuggets and chips. Owen had left Daniel at the table with the plate in front of him while he had fed Ella and metaphorically punched the air as he spied his son begin to gingerly pick at the food, his rumbling stomach bringing that stand off to an end.

Bath time bought an epic battle, that ended in a flood of the bathroom floor that could rival the Poseidon adventures. Daniel had splashed the bath toys vigorously and Owen had regretted trying to bathe both children together when Ella had panicked at the water crashing around her and started to scream. He had forgotten to bring the towels into the bathroom from their bedrooms so had to anchor one slippery, wet child under each arm, run to grab the towels, carrying them in his teeth, and then plop the children back in the tub to finish their wash. He would deal with the water trail on the firehouse floor later.

Finally it was 6.30pm. Daniel's bed time. Ella was sleeping in her cot but his son had other ideas. First he hid in the wardrobe to avoid getting under his bed covers. Owen coaxed him out with promise he could choose a book to read. Daniel had then made an elongated spectacle of getting almost every book down and examining the covers trying to decide which one he was in the mood for. His avoidance and stalling tactics would have been something to marvel at if Owen wasn't so desperate to get him to bed so he could enjoy a few moments of peace. A dragon book was finally settled on and Owen curled into the side of the bed next to his son and they began to read under the glow of the deep red night light.

"I love you Daniel. Sweet dreams." Owen kissed his head and left the room, pausing to gaze at his sleeping heir.

Just as he settled down on the sofa and flicked on the TV an ear piercing wail came from the nursery. Quickly grabbing a bottle from the kitchen, Owen bounded into the nursery not wanting her cries to awaken the other child who had resisted sleep.

"Waaaaaaaa, waaaaaaaaaaaa!" Baby Ella was red faced and clenched fisted against the yellow of the cot sheet.

Reaching in to lift her out, Owen quietly soothed, "It's ok little miss. Here you go." he offered her the teat of the bottle and she sucked hungrily.

Burped and settled back in her sleeping bag, silence descended over the house again.

Owen tiredly shook his head. He never realised that leading a surgical staff would be easier than dealing with two under threes!

For the following twenty five minutes Owen was up and down between the two bedrooms, comforting, rocking and re- covering his children until they finally both were spent of the energy to fight the sleep that enveloped them.

Not paying any attention to what was on the TV screen, Owen found a comfortable prone position on the sofa and closed his eyes, visions of his wife swimming across his consciousness as he took a little nap while he waited for her to come home.

_8pm that night..._

The firehouse was no longer the quiet haven Cristina and Owen had created when they moved in many years ago. It had adapted to its new dwellers. Its walls now reverberated with the sounds of children's laughter, tears, stories and rhymes. The floors were often littered with toys and crayons that the parents had to dodge and swerve like they were avoiding land mines or IEDs, so as not to raise the squeaks and songs that played on repeat when pressed.

As she made her way up the stairs Cristina could hear the silence she had once known here, punctuated only by the soft hum of the tv in the background of the sitting room. Dropping her coat and bag over the orange chaise at the entrance to the living space, she spied her husband stretched across the sofa.

"Hey you." coming up behind him, she eased his head back and kissed his forehead tenderly.

"Hey. How did the surgery go?" He slowly opened his heavy eyes as he gave himself over to her touch.

"Patient is stable in recovery. So a good outcome." Her tone was matter of fact. She had left the procedure at the hospital, now she was home she just wanted to absorb herself in the easy comfort of her family.

Owen smiled and made his way to the kitchen to fix some dinner for them. Cristina went towards the nursery to check first on her sleeping infant and then into the adjacent room to watch her toddler slumbering peacefully. After a day away from them it calmed her heart to see them safe in their beds, watching their serene faces as they journeyed through their secret dreamlands. It still astonished her sometimes, first that she was a mother and second that she was actually good at it. The bond she had with her children had filled her up in a way she never felt possible and the greater strength it had added to her marriage made her feel so loved she sometimes felt she might burst. The life she was now living was unexpectedly wonderful.

They shared the meal Owen had prepared and Cristina listened intently as her husband filled her in on the children's afternoon. She tried not to laugh as Owen recounted the tantrums Daniel had subjected him to until the battle of wills had finally be settled in a dragon story book and a bed time cuddle. She loved how even the smallest detail lit up his face when he described how Daniel had told him he loved him as his eyes fell shut and how their daughter had laid in his arms and greedily eaten a whole bottle of the milk she had expressed that morning. His pride in being a father made her feel so proud to be the woman who had given him access to these precious moments.

After clearing the plates, they moved into the living room, each of them nursing a bottle of cold beer after long days in the boardroom, the operating room and the rooms of the firehouse.

"How was your day?" The question came as they got to the edge of the couch.

Owen flopped down and rested his back against the arm rest and stretched out his tired body, "You never told me our children had so much energy! I thought trauma surgery was heavy going! These two make it look like a walk in the park."

Cristina laughed. "Awww, is Major Hunt tired? Did you get ambushed by two tiny humans?"

Swatting her playfully with his foot before reaching out to pull her towards him, "Very funny!"

"The board are interested in the cardiac trauma centre." Owen informed Cristina as she climbed into his lap and slung her arms around his neck, running her fingers in his hair, gently massaging his scalp.

"Really?" She could not hide the excitement in her voice and she squeezed herself tighter in to his arms? She had bought this idea to Owen, in his role as Chief of Surgery and he had treated her as a colleague not his wife as she presented him with a viable, cost effective way to set it up and run it.

"Yes. But, if the board give it a green light I want your idea pushed through on your own merit not on your position as the Chiefs wife. So make an appointment with my secretary tomorrow and we will discuss the next step. Ok?"

Owen already knew Cristina would be more than capable of doing whatever she set her mind too but since being the chief he was very clear to keep the boundaries of colleagues versus couple very clearly drawn. No special dispensations or privileges in their home that related to work, that the other surgical fellows did not have access to. As much as it annoyed Cristina she respected her husband's professionalism and dedication to both their careers and their marriage.

"Well since we are at home as plain old married Cristina and Owen, I suppose a night of hot sex it will have to be?" His wife spoke the words seductively as she buried her face in his neck and dropped some kisses below his ear.

Usually this particular gesture would be the precursor to him flipping her tiny body underneath his and starting a very hot and heavy physical examination of her body. But tonight his body couldn't lie, "Honey, all I can offer you right now is a night of hot...sleep." Owen yawned sadly as the thought of crawling into bed with his beautiful wife to sleep was so much more appealing than making love. "I am sorry...an afternoon with our children has completely done me over...I am exhausted!"

"I know!" Cristina laughed as she pushed herself off of his lap and stood in front of him, holding out her hands. "Come on, I will take a sleep with my hot husband, but don't tell my boss I'm married, I think he has a thing for me!" She winked at him playfully.

"I think you could be right! My advice, always keep on the good side of the Chief!" Owen took her hands, allowing her to half pull him up to stand in front of her and laid a slow, soft kiss on her lips, allowing his tongue a brief dance with hers. He pulled away first, much to Cristina's chargrin, tucked her under his arm and they walked to the bedroom.

He stripped off his clothes, pulled on some clean boxers and climbed under the covers, listening to the sound of Cristina, in the bathroom, taking a shower. She stepped out and wrapped a towel around her, wishing Owen was wrapped around her body instead. As she brushed her teeth she thought that she may still get a little love from her husband tonight. He may be tired but his kiss never lied about how much he wanted her. Pulling her hair into a messy bun high on her head to expose her neck, she said to herself, _That ought to wake him up a bit...the neck and some special attention_. Smiling wickedly to herself in the mirror, she thought she had better have a plan B just in case tonight turned into one of the rare nights in their marriage where no sex was had.

"Shall we go out for dinner tomorrow night, to spend some alone time together? I can get Meredith to babysit?" Cristina called through the half open door. When she got no reply she threw the used towel in the hamper and pulled on her pyjamas.

"Owen did you...?" She stopped on the threshold of their bedroom and smiled at the sight of her big strong man curled up on his side in the same foetal position that their 2 year old son slept in, snoring soundly.

Easing herself under the covers and wrapping her tiny body around the small surface area he had created, she kissed between his shoulder blades and whispered, "sweet dreams my darling".

Flicking off the light she realised how lucky she was to have this man in her bed. Yes she had mind blowing sex with him but she also had this. These small moments of true intimacy that only come when you take on the role of your true self with your true love.


End file.
